TO
The Faculty of Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga.,
—AND TO
THE PRESIDENT IN PARTICULAR,
TO WHOSE CAREFUL
MENTAL AND MORAL TRAINING OF MYSELF IS DUE ALL
MY SUCCESS AT THE MILITARY ACADEMY
AT WEST POINT, N. Y.,
I AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATE THIS VOLUME,
AS IN SOME SORT
A TOKEN OF THAT HEARTFELT GRATITUDE WHICH
I SO DEEPLY FEEL, BUT CAN SO
POORLY EXPRESS.

THE following pages were written by request. They
claim to give an accurate and impartial narrative of my
four years' life while a cadet at West Point, as well as a
general idea of the institution there. They are almost an
exact transcription of notes taken at various times during
those four years. Any inconsistencies, real or apparent,
in my opinions or in the impressions made upon me, are
due to the fact that they were made at different times at
a place where the feelings of all were constantly undergoing
material change.

They do not pretend to merit. Neither are they written
for the purpose of criticising the Military Academy
or those in any way connected with it.

My “notes” have been seen and read. If I please
those who requested me to publish them I shall be content,
as I have no other object in putting them before the
public.

HENRY OSSIAN FLIPPER, the eldest of five
brothers, and the subject of this narrative, was
born in Thomasville, Thomas County, Georgia, on
the 21st day of March, 1856. He and his mother
were the property (?) of Rev. Reuben H. Lucky, a
Methodist minister of that place. His father, Festus
Flipper, by trade a shoemaker and carriage-trimmer,
was owned by Ephraim G. Ponder, a successful and
influential slave-dealer.

In 1859 Mr. Ponder, having retired from business,
returned to Georgia from Virginia with a number of
mechanics, all slaves, and among whom was the
father of young Flipper. He established a number
of manufactories in Atlanta, then a growing inland
town of Georgia. He married about this time a
beautiful, accomplished, and wealthy lady. “Flipper,”
as he was generally called, had married before
this, and had been taken back alone to his native
Virginia to serve an apprenticeship under a carriage-trimmer.
This served, Mr. Ponder joined his wife
in Thomasville, bringing with him, as stated, a number
of mechanics.

All were soon ready for transportation to Atlanta
except “Flipper.” As he and his wife were each
the property (?) of different persons, there was, under
the circumstances, every probability of a separation.
This, of course, would be to them most displeasing.
Accordingly an application was made to Mr. Ponder
to purchase the wife and son. This he was, he said,
unable to do. He had, at an enormous expense,
procured and fitted up a home, and his coffers were
nearly, if not quite, empty. Husband and wife then
appealed to Mr. Lucky. He, too, was averse to parting
them, but could not, at the great price asked for
him, purchase the husband. He was willing however,
to sell the wife. An agreement was finally
made by which the husband paid from his own
pocket the purchase-money of his own wife and
child, this sum to be returned to him by Mr. Ponder
whenever convenient. The joy of the wife can be
conceived. It can not be expressed.

In due time all arrived at Atlanta, where Mr.
Ponder had purchased about twenty-five acres of
land and had erected thereon, at great expense, a
superb mansion for his own family, a number of substantial
frame dwellings for his slaves, and three
large buildings for manufacturing purposes.

Of sixty-five slaves nearly all of the men were
mechanics. All of them except the necessary household
servants, a gardener, and a coachman, were permitted
to hire their own time. Mr. Ponder would
have absolutely nothing to do with their business
other than to protect them. So that if any one
wanted any article of their manufacture they contracted
with the workman and paid him his own
price. These bond people were therefore virtually
free. They acquired and accumulated wealth, lived
happily, and needed but two other things to make
them like other human beings, viz., absolute freedom
and education. But
“God moves in a mysterious wayHis wonders to perform.”
And through that very mysteriousness this people
was destined to attain to the higher enjoyment of
life. The country, trembling under the agitation of
the slave question, was steadily seeking a condition
of equilibrium which could be stable only in the
complete downfall of slavery. Unknown to them,
yet existing, the great question of the day was gradually
being solved; and in its solution was working
out the salvation of an enslaved people. Well did
that noblest of women, Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, sing
a few years after:

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;He is tramping out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword;This truth is marching on.“I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps;I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;His day is marching on.“I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel;‘As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,Since God is marching on.’“He hath sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat;Oh! be swift my soul to answer him! be jubilant my feet!Our God is marching on. “In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea,With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,While God is marching on.”

Another influence was as steadily tending to the
same end. Its object was to educate, to elevate intellectually,
and then to let the power thus acquired act.

The mistress of this fortunate household, far from
discharging the duties and functions of her station,
left them unnoticed, and devoted her whole attention
to illegitimate pleasures. The outraged husband
appointed a guardian and returned broken-hearted
to the bosom of his own family, and devoted himself
till death to agricultural pursuits.

The nature of the marriage contract prevented the
selling of any of the property without the mutual
consent of husband and wife. No such consent was
ever asked for by either. No one was, therefore, in
that state of affairs, afraid of being sold away from
his or her relatives, although their mistress frequently
threatened so to sell them. “I'll send you to Red
River,” was a common menace of hers,
but perfectly harmless, for all knew, as well as she
did, that it was impossible to carry it into execution.

In this condition of affairs the “servants” were
even more contented than ever. They hired their
time, as usual, and paid their wages to their mistress,
whose only thought or care was to remember
when it became due, and then to receive it.

The guardian, an influential stockholder in several
railroads, and who resided in another city, made
periodical visits to inspect and do whatever was
necessary to a proper discharge of his duties.

Circumstances being highly favorable, one of the
mechanics, who had acquired the rudiments of an
education, applied to this dissolute mistress for permission
to teach the children of her “servants.”
She readily consented, and, accordingly, a night-school
was opened in the very woodshop in which
he worked by day. Here young Flipper was
initiated into the first of the three mysterious R's,
viz., “reading 'riting and 'rithmetic.” Here, in
1864, at eight years of age, his education began.
And the first book he ever studied—I dare say ever
saw—was a confederate reprint of Webster's “Blueback
Speller.” His then tutor has since graduated
at Westminster College in Pennsylvania, and is, at the
time of this writing, United States Consul at Malaga,
Spain, having served in the same capacity for four
years at Port Mahon, Spain.

But alas! even this happy arrangement was destined
to be disturbed. This dissolute mistress and
her slaves, with all valuable movable property, were
compelled to flee before Sherman's victorious arms.
Macon, a city just one hundred and three miles
south-east of Atlanta, became the new home of the
Flippers. A spacious dwelling was secured in West
Macon. In a part of this was stored away Mrs.
Ponder's plate and furniture, under the guardianship
of Flipper, who with his family occupied
the rest of the house. Here all was safe. The terrible
fate of Atlanta was not extended to Macon. The
only cause of alarm was Wilson, who approached the
city from the east, and, having thrown in a few
shells, withdrew without doing further damage or
being molested. Every body was frightened, and it
was deemed advisable to transfer Mrs. Ponder's effects
to Fort Valley, a small place farther south.
However, before this could be done, it became indisputably
known that Wilson had withdrawn.

After an uneventful stay—other than this incident
just related—of nine months in Macon, the
office of custodian was resigned, and although yet a
slave, as far as he knew, and without permission
from any one, Flipper returned to Atlanta with
his wife and two. sons, Henry, the elder, and Joseph,
the younger. This was in the spring of 1865.
Atlanta was in ruins, and it appeared a dreary place
indeed to start anew on the unfinished journey of
life. Every thing was not destroyed, however. A
few houses remained. One of these was occupied.
The people were rapidly returning, and the railroads
from Atlanta were rapidly being rebuilt.

During all this time the education of the young
Flippers had been necessarily neglected. In the early
spring of 1865, the family of an ex-rebel captain became
neighbors of the Flippers, now well to do, and
were soon on the most, friendly terms with them. With
remarkable condescension the wife of this ex-rebel
offered to instruct Henry and Joseph for a small remuneration.
The offer was readily and gladly accepted,
and the education of the two, so long neglected,
was taken up again. This private school of
only two pupils existed but a short time. The
American Missionary Association having opened better
schools, the Flippers were, in March, 1866,
transferred to them. They attended school there till in
1867 the famous Storrs' School was opened under
the control of the American Missionary Association,
when they went there. In 1869, the Atlanta University
having been opened under the same auspices,
they entered there. At the time of receiving his appointment
Henry was a member of the freshman
class of the collegiate department. His class graduated
there in June, 1876, just one year before he
did at West Point.

The following article from a Thomasville paper,
published in June, 1874, will give further information
concerning his early life:

“ ‘It is not
generally known that Atlanta has a negro cadet at the
United States National Military Academy at West Point. This cadet
is a mulatto boy named Flipper. He is about twenty years old, a
stoutish fellow, weighing perhaps one hundred and fifty pounds, and
a smart, bright, intelligent boy. His father is a shoemaker, and gave
him the euphonious name of Henry Ossian Flipper.

“‘Flipper has been at the great soldier factory of the nation for a
year. He was recommended there by our late Congressman from
the Fifth District, the Hon. J. C. Freeman. Flipper has made a
right booming student. In a class of ninety-nine he stood about the
middle, and triumphantly passed his examination, and has risen from
the fourth to the third class without difficulty.

“ ‘The only two colored boys at the Academy were the famous
Smith and the Atlanta Flipper. It is thought that Smith at the last
examination failed. If so, Atlanta will have the distinguished honor
of having the sole African representative at West Point.

“ ‘Flipper has had the privilege of eating at the same table with the
poor white trash; but Smith and Flipper bunked together in the same
room alone, without white companions.

“ ‘It is an astonishing fact that, socially, the boys from the Northern
and Western States will have nothing to do with these colored
brothers. Flipper and Smith were socially ostracized. Not even the
Massachusetts boys will associate with them. Smith has been a little
rebellious, and attempted to thrust himself on the white boys; but
the sensible Flipper accepted the situation, and proudly refused to
intrude himself on the white boys.

“ ‘The feeling of ostracism is so strong
that a white boy who dared
to recognize a colored cadet would be himself ostracized by the
other white cubs, even of radical extraction.’

“We copy the above from the Atlanta Herald of last week, for the
purpose of remarking that among colored men we know of none
more honorable or more deserving than Flipper, the father of the colored
West Point student of that name. Flipper lived for many years
in Thomasville as the servant of Mr. E. G. Ponder—was the best
bootmaker we ever knew, and his character and deportment were
ever those of a sensible, unassuming, gentlemanly white man. Flipper possessed the confidence and respect of his master and all who
knew him. His wife, the mother of young Flipper, was Isabella, a
servant in the family of Rev. R. H. Lucky, of Thomasville, and bore
a character equal to that of her husband. Young Flipper was baptized
in his infancy by the venerable Bishop Early. From these antecedents
we should as soon expect young Flipper to make his mark
as any other colored youth in the country.”

(From the Louisville Ledger.)

“It is just possible that some of our readers may not know who
Flipper is. For their benefit we make haste to explain that Flipper
is the solitary colored cadet now at West Point. He is in the
third class, and stands forty-six in the class, which numbers eighty-
five members. This is a very fair standing, and Flipper's friends
declare that he is getting along finely in his studies, and that he is
quite up to the standard of the average West Point student. Nevertheless
they intimate that he will never graduate. Flipper, they
say, may get as far as the first class, but there he will be ‘slaughtered.’

“A correspondent of the New York Times takes issue with this
opinion. He says there are many ‘old heads’ who believe Flipper
will graduate with honor, and he thinks so too. The grounds for his
belief, as he gives them, are that the officers are gentlemen, and so are
the professors; that they believe merit should be rewarded wherever
found; and that they all speak well of Flipper, who is a hard student,
as his position in his class proves. From this correspondent we
learn that Flipper is from Georgia; that he has a light, coffee-colored
complexion, and that he ‘minds his business and does not intrude his
company upon the other cadets,’ though why this should be put
down in the list of his merits it is not easy to understand, since, if he graduates, as this writer believes he will, he will have the right to
associate on terms of perfect equality with the other cadets, and may
in time come to command some of them. We are afraid there is
some little muddle of inconsistency in the brain of the Times' correspondent.

“The Chicago Tribune seems to find it difficult to come to any
conclusion concerning Flipper's chances for graduating. It says: ‘It is
freely asserted that Flipper will never be allowed to graduate; that the
prejudice of the regular army instructors against the colored race is
insurmountable, and that they will drive away from the Academy by
persecution of some petty sort any colored boy who may obtain
admittance there. The story does not seem to have any
substantial basis; still, it possesses considerable vitality.’

“We don't profess to understand exactly what sort of a story that
is which has ‘considerable vitality’ without any substantial basis,
and can only conclude that the darkness of the subject has engendered
a little confusion in the mind of the Tribune as well as in that of the
writer of the Times. But the Tribune acquires more confidence as it
warms in the discussion, and it assures us finally that ‘there is, of
course, no doubt that some colored boys are capable of receiving a
military education; and eventually the presence of colored officers
in the regular army must be an accepted fact.’ Well, we don't know about that ‘accepted fact.’ The white man is mighty uncertain,
and the nigger won't do to trust to, in view of which truths it would
be unwise to bet too high on the ‘colored officers,’ for some years to
come at least.

“But let not Flipper wring his flippers in despair, notwithstanding.
Let him think of Smith, and take heart of hope. Smith was another
colored cadet who was sent to West Point from South Carolina.
Smith mastered readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic, but chemistry mastered Smith.* They gave him three trials, but it was to no purpose ;
so they had to change his base and send him back to South Carolina.
But what of that? They've just made him inspector of militia in
South Carolina, with the rank of brigadier-general. How long

*Cadet Smith failed in Natural and Experimental Philosophy. In Chemistry he was up to the average. He was never appointed Inspector-General of South Carolina. He was Commandant of Cadets in the South
Carolina Agricultural Institute at Orangeburg, S. C., which position he held
till his death November 29th, 1876.

might he have remained in the army before he would have become
‘General Smith?’ Why, even Fred Grant's only a lieutenant-colonel.
Smith evidently has reason to congratulate himself upon
being ‘plucked;’ and so the young gentleman from Georgia, with
the ‘light, coffee-colored complexion,’ if he meets with a similar
misfortune, may console himself with the hope that to him also in his extremity will be extended from some source a helping flipper.”

CHAPTER II.
COMMUNICATIONS, ETC.

HAVING given in the previous chapter a brief
account of myself—dropping now, by permission, the third
person—prior to my appointment, I
shall here give in full what led me to seek that appointment,
and how I obtained it. It was while sitting
“in his father's quiet shoeshop on Decatur Street”—as
a local paper had it—that I overheard a
conversation concerning the then cadet from my own
district. In the course of the conversation I learned
that this cadet was to graduate the following June;
and that therefore a vacancy would occur. This
was in the autumn of 1872, and before the election.
It occurred to me that I might fill that vacancy, and
I accordingly determined to make an endeavor to do
so, provided the Republican nominee for Congress
should be elected. He was elected. I applied for
and obtained the appointment. In 1865 or 1866—I
do not now remember which: perhaps it was even
later than either—it was suggested to my father to
send me to West Point. He was unwilling to do so,
and, not knowing very much about the place, was
reluctant to make any inquiries. I was then of
course too young for admission, being only ten or
twelve years old; and knowing nothing of the place
myself, I did not care to venture the attempt to become
a cadet.

At the time I obtained the appointment I had
quite forgotten this early recommendation of my
father's friend; indeed, I did not recall it until I
began compiling my manuscript.

The suggestion given me by the conversation
above mentioned was at once acted upon, and decision
made in a very short time; and so fully was
I determined, so absolutely was my mind set on
West Point, that I persisted in my desire even to
getting the appointment, staying at the Academy
four years, and finally graduating. The following
communications will explain how I got the appointment.*

*It has been impossible for the author to obtain copies of his own
letters to the Hon. Congressman who appointed him, which is
to be regretted. The replies are inserted in such order that they will
readily suggest the tenor of the first communications.

Reply No. 1GRIFFIN, January 23,1873.MR. H. O. FLIPPER.

DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 21st, asking me, as member-elect to
Congress from this State, to appoint you cadet to West Point, was
received this morning. You are a stranger to me, and before I can
comply with your request you must get your teacher, Mr. James L.
Dunning, P.M., Colonel H. P. Fanorr, and other Republicans to
indorse for you. Give me assurance you are worthy and well qualified
and I will recommend you.

DEAR SIR: On my arrival from Washington I found your letter
of the 19th. I have received an invitation from the War Department
to appoint, or nominate, a legally qualified cadet to the United States
Military Academy from my district.

As you were the first applicant, I am disposed to give you the first
chance; but the requirements are rigid and strict, and I think you
had best come down and see them. If after reading them you think
you can undergo the examination without doubt, I will nominate
you. But I do not want my nominee to fail to get in.

DEAR SIR : Your letter of the 24th to hand, and contents noted.
While your education may be sufficient, it requires many other
qualifications—such as age, height, form, etc.; soundness of lungs,
limbs, etc. I will send you up the requirements, if you desire them, and
call upon three competent gentlemen to examine you, if you desire it.
Let me hear from you again on the subject.

DEAR SIR: Yours of 26th at hand. I have concluded to send the
paper sent me to J. A. Holtzclaw, of Atlanta, present Collector of
Internal Revenue. You can call on him and examine for yourself. If
you then think you can pass, I will designate three men to examine
you, and if they pronounce you up to the requirements I will appoint you.

DEAR SIR: The board of examiners pronounce you qualified to
enter the Military Academy at West Point. You will oblige me by
sending me your given name in full, also your age to a month, and
the length of time you have lived in the Fifth District, or in or near
Atlanta. I will appoint you, and send on the papers to the Secretary
of War, who will notify you of the same. From this letter to me you
will have to be at West Point by the 25th day of May, 1873.

DEAR SIR: I this day inclose you papers from the War Department.
You can carefully read and then make up your mind whether you accept
the position assigned you. If you should sign up, direct and forward to
proper authorities, Washington, D. C. If you do not accept, return the
paper to my address, Griffin, Ga.

I am yours very respectfully,J. C. FREEMAN.

The papers, three in number, referred to in the above
letter, are the following:

WAR DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON, April 11, 1873.

SIR: You are hereby informed that the President has conditionally
selected you for appointment as a Cadet of the United States Military
Academy at West Point.

Should you desire the appointment, you will report in person to the
Superintendent of the Academy between the 20th and 25th days of
May, 1873, when, if found on due examination to possess the
qualifications required by law and set forth in the circular hereunto
appended, you will be admitted, with pay from July 1st, 1873, to serve
until the following January, at which time you will be examined before
the Academic Board of the Academy. Should the result of this
examination be favorable, and the reports of your personal, military,
and moral deportment be satisfactory, your warrant of appointment, to
be dated July 1st, 1873, will be delivered to you; but should the result of
your examination, or your conduct reports be unfavorable, you will be
discharged from the military service, unless otherwise recommended, for
special reasons, by the Academic Board, but will receive an allowance for
travelling expenses to your home.

Your attention is particularly directed to the accompanying circular,
and it is to be distinctly understood that this notification confers upon
you no right to enter the Military Academy unless your qualifications
agree fully with its requirements, and unless you report for examination
within the time specified.

You are requested to immediately inform the Department of your
acceptance or declination of the contemplated appointment upon the
conditions annexed.

I. Candidates must be actual bona fide residents of the Congressional
district or Territory for which their appointments are made, and must be
over seventeen and under twenty-two years of age at the time of entrance
into the Military Academy; but any person who has served honorably
and faithfully not less than one year as an officer or enlisted man in the
army of the United States, either as a Volunteer, or in the Regular
service, during the war for the suppression of the rebellion, shall be
eligible for appointment up to the age of twenty-four years. They must
be at least five feet in height, and free from any infectious or immoral
disorder, and, generally, from any deformity, disease, or infirmity which
may render them unfit for arduous military service. They must be
proficient in Reading and Writing; in the elements of English
Grammar; in Descriptive Geography, particularly of our own country,
and in the History of the United States.

In Arithmetic, the various operations in addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division, reduction, simple and compound
proportion, and vulgar and decimal fractions, must be thoroughly
understood and readily performed.

The following are the leading physical disqualifications:
1. Feeble constitution and muscular tenuity; unsound health from
whatever cause; indications of former disease; glandular swellings, or
other symptoms of scrofula.2. Chronic cutaneous affections, especially of the scalp.3. Severe injuries of the bones of the head; convulsions.4. Impaired vision, from whatever cause; inflammatory affections of
the eyelids; immobility or irregularity of the iris; fistula, lachrymalis,
etc., etc.5. Deafness; copious discharge from the ears.6. Loss of many teeth, or the teeth generally unsound.7. Impediment of speech.8. Want of due capacity of the chest, and any other indication of a
liability to a pulmonic disease.9. Impaired or inadequate efficiency of one or both of the superior
extremities on account of fractures, especially of the clavicle,
contraction of a joint, extenuation, deformity, etc., etc.10. An unusual excurvature or incurvature of the spine.11. Hernia.12. A varicose state of the veins of the scrotum or spermatic cord
(when large), sarcocele, hydroccle, hemorrhoids, fistulas.13. Impaired or inadequate efficiency of one or of both of the inferior
extremities on account of varicose veins, fractures,
malformation (flat feet, etc.), lameness, contraction, unequal length, bunions, overlying or supernumerary toes, etc., etc.14. Ulcers, or unsound cicatrices of ulcers likely to break out
afresh.

Every person appointed, upon arrival at West Point, is
submitted to a rigid medical examination, and if any causes of
disqualification are found to exist in him to such a degree as
may now or hereafter impair his efficiency, he is rejected.

No person who has served in any capacity in the military or naval
service of the so-called Confederate States during the late rebellion can receive an appointment as cadet at the Military Academy.

II. The pay of a cadet is $500 per annum, with one ration per day,
to commence with his admission into the Military Academy, and is sufficient, with proper economy, for his support.

III. Each cadet must keep himself supplied with the following
mentioned articles, viz.:

One gray cloth coatee; one gray cloth riding-jacket; one regulation great-coat; two pairs of gray cloth pantaloons, for winter; six pairs of drilling pantaloons for summer; one fatigue-jacket for the encampment; one black dress cap; one forage cap; one black stock; *two pairs of ankle-boots ; *six pairs of white gloves; two sets of white belts; *seven shirts and twelve collars; *six pairs winter socks; *six pairs summer socks; *four pairs summer drawers; *three pairs winter drawers; *six pocket-handkerchiefs; *six towels; *one clothes-bag, made of ticking; *one clothes-brush; *one hair-brush; *one tooth-brush; *one comb; one mattress ; one pillow; *two pillow-cases; *two pairs sheets; one pair blankets; *one quilted bed-cover; one chair; one tumbler; *one trunk; one account-book; and will unite with his room-mate in purchasing, for their common use, one looking-glass, one wash-stand, one wash-basin, one pail, and one broom, and shall he required to have one table, of the pattern that may be prescribed by the Superintendent.

The articles marked thus * candidates are required to bring
with them; the others are to be had at West Point at regulated
prices, and it is better for a candidate to take with him as little
clothing of any description as is possible (excepting what is
marked), and no more money than will defray his travelling
expenses; but for the parent or guardian to send to “The
Treasurer of the Military Academy” a sum sufficient for his
necessary expenses until he is admitted, and for his clothes, etc.,
thereafter.

The expenses of the candidate for board, washing, lights, etc.,
prior to admission, will be about $5 per week, and immediately
after being admitted to the Institution he must be provided with
an outfit of uniform, etc., the cost of which will be $88.79. If, upon arrival,
he has the necessary sum to his credit on the books of the Treasurer, he will start with many advantages, in a pecuniary point of view, over those whose means are more limited, and who must, if they arrive, as many do, totally unprovided in this way, go in debt on the credit of their pay—a burden from which it requires many months to free themselves; while, if any accident compels them to leave the Academy, they must of necessity be in a destitute condition.

No cadet can receive money, or any other supplies, from his parents, or from any person whomsoever, without permission from the Superintendent.

IV. If the candidate be a minor, his acceptance must be accompanied by the written consent of his parent or guardian to his signing articles, binding himself to serve the United States eight years from the time of his admission into the Military Academy, unless sooner discharged.

V. During the months of July and August the cadets live in camp,
engaged only in military duties and exercises and receiving practical military instruction.

The academic duties and exercises commence on the 1st of September, and continue till about the end of June.

The newly appointed cadets are examined at the Academy prior to
admission, and those not properly qualified are rejected.

Examinations of the several classes are held in January and June, and at the former such of the new cadets as are found proficient in studies and have been correct in conduct are given the particular standing in their class to which their merits entitle them. After either examination cadets found deficient in conduct or studies are discharged from the Academy, unless, for special reasons in each case, the Academic Board should otherwise recommend.

These examinations are very thorough, and require from the cadet a close and persevering attention to study, without evasion or slighting of any part of the course, as no relaxations of any kind can be made by the examiners.

VI. A sound body and constitution, a fixed degree of preparation,
good natural capacity, an aptitude for study, industrious habits,
perseverance, an obedient and orderly disposition, and a correct moral deportment are such essential qualifications that candidates knowingly deficient in any of these respects should not, as many do, subject themselves and their friends to the chances of future mortification and disappointment, by accepting appointments to the Academy and entering upon a career which they can not successfully pursue.

Method of Examining Candidates for Admission into the Military Academy.

Candidates must be able to read with facility from any book, giving the proper intonation and pauses, and to write portions that are read aloud for that purpose, spelling the words and punctuating the sentences properly.

In ARITHMETIC they must be able to perform with facility examples under the four ground rules, and hence must be familiar with the tables of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and be able to perform examples in reduction and in vulgar and decimal fractions, such as—

They must also be able to change vulgar fractions into decimal fractions, and decimals into vulgar fractions, with examples like the following:

Change 15/16 into a decimal fraction of the same value.

Change one hundred and two thousandths (.102) into a vulgar fraction of the same value.

In simple and compound proportion, examples of various kinds will be given, and candidates will be expected to understand the principles of the rules which they follow.

In ENGLISH GRAMMAR candidates will be required to exhibit a familiarity with the nine parts of speech and the rules in relation thereto; must be able to parse any ordinary sentence given to them, and, generally, must understand those portions of the subject usually taught in the higher academies and schools throughout the country, comprehended under the heads of Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody.

In DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY they are to name, locate, and describe the natural grand and political divisions of the earth, and be able to delineate any one of the States or Territories of the American Union, with its principal cities, rivers, lakes, seaports, and mountains.

In HISTORY they must be able to name the periods of the discovery and settlement of the North American continent, of the rise and progress of the United States, and of the successive wars and political administrations through which the country has passed.

THE COURSE OF STUDY AND BOOKS USED AT THE MILITARY ACADEMY

THE COURSE OF STUDY AND BOOKS USED AT THE MILITARY ACADEMY

The second paper was a printed blank, a letter of
acceptance or non-acceptance, to be filled up, as the case
may be, signed by myself, countersigned by my father,
and returned to Washington, D. C.

The third, which follows, is simply a memorandum for
use of the candidate.

MEMORANDUM.

It is suggested to all candidates for admission into the Military
Academy that, before leaving their place of residence for West Point,
they should cause themselves to be thoroughly examined by a competent
physician, and by a teacher or instructor in good standing
By such an examination any serious physical disqualification, or deficiency in mental preparation, would be revealed, and the candidate
probably spared the expense and trouble of a useless journey and the mortification of rejection. The circular appended to the letter of appointment should be carefully studied by the candidate and the examiners.

It should be understood that the informal examination herein
recommended is solely for the convenience and benefit of the candidate
himself, and can in no manner affect the decision of the
Academic and Medical Examining Boards at West Point.

NOTE.—There being no provision whatever for the payment of the travelling expenses of either accepted or rejected candidates for admission, no candidate should fail to provide himself in advance with the means of returning to his home, in case of his rejection before either of the Examining Boards, as he may otherwise be put to considerable trouble, inconvenience, and even suffering, on account of his destitute situation. If admitted, the money brought by him to meet such a contingency can be deposited with the Treasurer on account of his equipment as a cadet, or returned to his friends.

After I had secured the appointment the editor
of one of our local papers, which was at the time publishing—
weekly, I think—brief biographies of
some of the leading men of the city, together with
cuts of the persons themselves, desired to thus bring
me into notoriety. I was duly consulted, and, objecting,
the publication did not occur. My chief
reason for objecting was merely this: I feared some
evil might befall me while passing through
Georgia en route for West Point, if too great a knowledge of
me should precede me, such, for instance, as a
publication of that kind would give.

At this interview several other persons—white, of
course—were present, and one of them—after relating
the trials of Cadet Smith and the circumstances of his
dismissal, which, apropos, had not yet
occurred, as he would have me believe—advised me to
abandon altogether the idea of going to West Point,
for, said he, “Them northern boys wont treat you
right.” I have a due proportion of stubbornness in
me, I believe, as all of the negro race are said to
have, and my Southern friend might as well have
advised an angel to rebel as to have counselled me
to resign and not go. He was convinced, too, before
we separated, that no change in my determination
was at all likely to occur. Next day, in a short
article, the fact of my appointment was mentioned,
and my age and degree of education. Some days
after this, while in the post-office, a gentleman beckoned
to me, and we withdrew from the crowd. He
mentioned this article, and after relating—indeed,
repeating, to my amusement, the many hardships to
which I should be subjected, and after telling me he
had a very promising son—candid, wasn't he?—whom
he desired to have educated at West Point,
offered me for my appointment the rather large sum of
five thousand dollars. This I refused instantly. I had so set
my mind on West Point that, having the appointment,
neither threats nor excessive bribes could induce me to
relinquish it, even if I had not possessed sufficient strength
of character to resist them otherwise.
However, as I was a minor, I referred him to
my father. I have no information that he ever consulted
him. If he had, my reply to him would have
been sustained. I afterward had reason to believe
the offer was made merely to test me, as I
received from strangers expressions of confidence in me
and in my doing faithfully all that might devolve upon me
from my appointment.

CHAPTER III.
REPORTING.

MAY 20th, 1873! Auspicious day! From the
deck of the little ferry-boat that steamed its way
across from Garrison's on that eventful afternoon
I viewed the hills about West Point, her stone
structures perched thereon, thus rising still higher,
as if providing access to the very pinnacle of fame, and
shuddered. With my mind full of the horrors of the
treatment of all former cadets of color, and the dread of
inevitable ostracism, I approached tremblingly yet
confidently.

The little vessel having been moored, I stepped
ashore and inquired of a soldier there where
candidates should report. He very kindly gave me
all needed information, wished me much success,
for which I thanked him, and set out for the
designated place. I soon reached it, and walked
directly into the adjutant's office. He received me
kindly, asked for my certificate of appointment, and
receiving that—or assurance that I had it: I do not
now remember which—directed me to write in a
book there for the purpose the name and
occupation of my father, the State, Congressional
district, county and city of his residence, my own
full name, age, State, county, and place of my birth,
and my occupation when at home. This done I was
sent in charge of an orderly to cadet
barracks, where my “plebe quarters” were assigned me.

The impression made upon me by what I saw while
going from the adjutant's office to barracks was certainly
not very encouraging. The rear windows were crowded
with cadets watching my unpretending passage of the
area of barracks with apparently as much astonishment
and interest as they would, perhaps, have watched
Hannibal crossing the Alps. Their words, jeers, etc., were
most insulting.

Having reached another office, I was shown in by the
orderly. I walked in, hat in hand—nay, rather started in—
when three cadets, who were seated in the room,
simultaneously sprang to their feet, and welcomed me
somewhat after this fashion:

“Well, sir, what do you mean by coming into this
office in that manner, sir? Get out of here, sir.”

I walked out, followed by one of them, who, in a
similar strain, ordered me to button my coat, get my
hands around—“fins” he said—heels together, and
head up.

“Now, sir,” said he, leaving me, “when you are ready
to come in, knock at that door,” emphasizing the word
“knock.”

The door was open. I knocked. He replied, “Come in.”
I went in. I took my position in front of and facing him,
my heels together, head up, the palms of my hands to the
front, and my little fingers on the seams of my pantaloons,
in which position we habitually carried them. After
correcting my position and making it sufficiently military
to suit himself, one of them, in a much milder tone,
asked what I desired of them. I told him I had been sent
by the adjutant to report there. He arose, and directing
me to follow him, conducted me to the bath-rooms.
Having discharged the necessary duty there, I returned
and was again put in charge of the orderly, who carried
me to the hospital. There I was subjected to a rigid
physical examination, which I “stood” with the greatest
ease. I was given a certificate of ability by the surgeon,
and by him sent again to the adjutant, who in turn sent me
to the treasurer. From him I returned alone to barracks.

The reception given to “plebes” upon reporting is often
very much more severe than that given me. Even
members of my own class can testify to this. This
reception has, however, I think, been best described in an
anonymous work, where it is thus set forth:

“How dare you come into the presence of your
superior officer in that grossly careless and unmilitary
manner? I'll have you imprisoned. Stand, attention, sir!”
(Even louder than before.) “Heels-together-and-on-
the-same-line, toes-equally-turned-out, little-fingers-on-the-seams-of-your-pantaloons,
button-your-coat, draw-in-your-chin, throw-out-your-chest,
cast-your-eyes-fifteen-paces-to-the-front,
don't-let-me-see-you-wearing-standing-collars-again.
Stand-steady, sir. You've evidently mistaken your profession,
sir. In any other service, or at the seat of war, sir, you would
have been shot, sir, without trial, sir, for such conduct,sir.”

The effect of such words can be easily imagined. A
“plebe” will at once recognize the necessity for absolute
obedience, even if he does know all this is
hazing, and that it is doubtless forbidden. Still
“plebes” almost invariably tremble while it lasts,
and when in their own quarters laugh over it, and
even practise it upon each other for mutual amusement.

On the way to barracks I met the squad of “beasts”
marching to dinner. I was ordered to fall in, did so,
marched to the mess hall, and ate my first dinner at West
Point. After dinner we were marched again to barracks
and dismissed. I hastened to my quarters, and a short
while after was turned out to take possession of my
baggage. I lugged it to my room, was shown the
directions on the back of the door for arrangement of
articles, and ordered to obey them within half an hour.
The parts of the regulations referred to are the following:

SPECIAL REGULATIONS FOR BARRACKS.
ORDERLIES OF ROOMS.

The particular attention of Orderlies is directed to those paragraphs
of the Regulations for the U. S. Military Academy specifying their
duties.

CADETS.

The hours of Recitation of each Cadet will be posted on the back of
the door of his room. When a room is being washed out by the
policeman, on reporting to the Officer of the Day, and stating to him the
number of some room in his own Division he wishes to visit, a Cadet will
be permitted to visit that particular room until his own can be occupied.
The uniform coat will be worn from 8 till 10 A.M.; at Inspection before
10 A.M. the coat will be buttoned throughout; at Sunday Morning
Inspection gloves and side-arms will also be worn. After 10 A.M. any
uniform garment or dressing-gown may be worn in their own rooms, but
at no time will Cadets be in their shirt-sleeves unnecessarily. During the
“Call to Quarters,” between “Inspection Call” in the morning and “Tattoo,” the following Arrangement of Furniture, etc., will be required:

Bedsteads—In alcove, against side wall of the room, the head
against the back wall.

Bedding—Mattress to be folded once; Blankets and Comforters,
each one to be neatly and separately folded, so that the folds shall
be of the width of an ordinary pillow, and piled at the head of the
BEDSTEAD in the following order, viz.: MATTRESS, SHEETS, PILLOWS,
BLANKETS, and COMFORTERS, the front edge of sheets, pillows, etc.,
to be vertical. On Sunday afternoons the BEDS may be made down and
used.

CLOTHES-PRESS.

Books—On the top of the Press, against the wall, and with the backs
to the front. BRUSHES (tooth and hair), COMBS, SHAVING IMPLEMENTS
and MATERIALS, such small boxes as may be allowed,
vials, etc., to be neatly arranged on the upper shelf. BELTS, COLLARS,
GLOVES, HANDKERCHIEFS, SOCKS, etc., to be neatly arranged on the
second shelf from the top. SHEETS, PILLOW-CASES, SHIRTS,
DRAWERS, WHITE PANTS, etc., to be neatly arranged on the other
shelves, the heaviest articles on the lower shelves.

Arrangement—All articles of the same kind are to be carefully and
neatly placed in separate piles, The folded edges of these articles to be
to the front, and even with the front edge of the shelf. Nothing will be
allowed between these piles of clothing and the back of the press, unless
the want of room on the front edge renders it necessary.

Dirty Clothes—To be kept in clothes-bag.

Shoes and Over-Shoes—To be kept clean, dusted, and arranged in
a line where they can be seen by the Inspector, either at the foot of the
bedstead or at the side near the foot.

Woollen Clothing, Dressing-Gown, and Clothes-Bag—To be
hung on the pegs in alcove in the following general order, from the front
of the alcove to the back: Over-Coat, Dressing-Gown, Uniform
Coats, Jackets, Pants, Clothes-Bag.

FURNITURE.

Broom—To be kept behind the door. TIN BOX for CLEANING
MATERIALS—To be kept clean and in the fire-place. SPITTOON—
To be kept on one side of the hearth near mantel-piece. CHAIRS and
TABLES—On no occasion to be in alcoves, the chairs, when not in
use, to be against the owners' tables. LOOKING-GLASS—At the
centre of the mantel-piece. WASH-STAND—To be kept clean,
in front and against alcove partition. WASH-BASIN—To be kept
clean, and inverted on the top of the Wash-stand. WATER- BUCKET
—To be kept on shelf of wash-stand. SLOP-BUCKET—
To be kept near to and on side of Wash-stand, opposite door.
Baskets, Pictures, Clocks, Statues, Trunks, and large Boxes Will NOT be
allowed in quarters.

Curtains—WINDOW-CURTAINS—Only uniform allowed, and
to be kept drawn back during the day. ALCOVE—CURTAINS—Only uniform
allowed, and to be kept drawn, except between “Tattoo” and “Reveille”
and when dressing. CURTAINS OF CLOTHES-PRESS—To be
kept drawn, except when policing room.

FLOOR.

To be kept clean, and free from grease-spots and stains.

WALLS AND WOOD-WORK.

To be kept free from cobwebs, and not to be injured by nails or
otherwise.

HEATING APPARATUS, SCREEN AND TOP.

To be kept clean, and not to be scratched or defaced.

These Regulations will be strictly obeyed and enforced.By order of LIEUT.-COLONEL UPTON,
GEORGE L. TURNER,Cadet Lieut. and Adjutant.HEADQUARTERS, COUPS OF CADETS,
West Point, N. Y., Sept. 4, 1873.

At the end of the time specified every article was
arranged and the cadet corporal returned to inspect. He
walked deliberately to the clothes-press, and, informing
me that every thing was arranged wrong, threw every
article upon the floor, repeated his order, and withdrew.
And thus three times in less than two hours did I arrange
and he disarrange my effects. I was not troubled again by
him till after supper, when he inspected again, merely
opening the door, however, and looking in. He told me I
could not go to sleep till “tattoo.” Now tattoo, as he
evidently used it, referred in some manner to time, and
with such reference I had not the remotest idea of what it
meant. I had no knowledge whatever of military terms or
customs. However, as I was also told that I could do any
thing—writing, etc.—I might wish to do, I found sufficient to
keep me awake until he again returned and told me it was
then tattoo, that I could retire then or at any time within
half an hour, and that at the end of that time the light
must be extinguished and I must be in bed. I instantly
extinguished it and retired.

Thus passed my first half day at West Point, and thus
began the military career of the fifth colored cadet. The
other four were Smith of South Carolina, Napier of
Tennessee, Howard of Mississippi, and Gibbs of Florida.

What I had seen and experienced during the few
hours from my arrival till tattoo filled me with fear and
apprehension. I expected every moment to be insulted or
struck, and was not long in persuading myself that the
various reports which I had heard concerning Smith were
true—I had not seen him yet, or, if I had, had not
recognized him—and that my life there was to be all torture
and anguish. I was uneasy and miserable, ever thinking
of the regulations, verbal or written, which had been given
me. How they haunted me! I kept repeating them over
and over, fearful lest I might forget and violate them, and
be dismissed. If I wanted any thing or wished to go
anywhere, I must get permission of the cadet officers on
duty over us. To get such permission I must enter their
office cleanly and neatly dressed, and, taking my place in
the centre of the room, must salute, report my entrance,
make known my wants, salute again, and report my
departure.* At the instant I heard the sound of a drum
I must turn out at a run and take my place in the ranks.

* Somewhat after this fashion:
“Candidate F—, United States Military Academy, reports his
entrance into this office, sir.”
“Well, sir, what do you want in this office?”
“I desire permission, sir, to walk on public lands till retreat.”
“No, sir, you can't walk on public lands till retreat. Get out
of my sight.”
“Candidate F—, United States Military Academy, reports
his departure from this office, sir. ”

At five o'clock the next morning two unusual sounds
greeted my ears—the reveille, and a voice in the hall
below calling out in a loud martial tone:

“Candidates, turn out promptly!” In an astonishingly
short time I had dressed, “turned out,” and was in ranks.
We stood there as motionless as statues till the fifers and
drummers had marched up to barracks, the rolls of the
companies had been called, and they themselves
dismissed. We were then dismissed, our roll having been also called.
We withdrew at a run to our quarters and got them ready
for inspection, which, we were informed, would take
place at the expiration of half an hour. At the end
of this time our quarters were inspected by a corporal.
In my own room he upset my bedding,
kicked my shoes into the middle of the room, and
ordered me to arrange them again and in better
order. This order was obeyed immediately. And
this upsetting was done in every room, as I learned
afterward from the occupants, who, strange to say,
manifested no prejudice then. 'Twas not long ere
they learned that they were prejudiced, and that they
abhorred even the sight of a “d—d nigger.”

Just before, or perhaps just after breakfast, our
quarters were again inspected. This time I was somewhat
surprised to hear the corporal say, “Very well, Mr. Flipper,
very well, sir.”

And this with other things shows there was a
friendly feeling toward me from the first. After having
thus expressed himself, he directed me to print my name
on each of four pieces of paper, and to tack them up in
certain places in the room, which he indicated to me. I did
this several times before I could please him; but at last
succeeded. Another corporal visited me during the day
and declared everything out of order, although I had not
touched a single thing after once satisfying the first
corporal. Of course I had to rearrange them to suit him, in
which I also finally succeeded.

At eleven o'clock the mail came. I received a letter,
and to my astonishment its postmark was “West Point,
N. Y., May 21st.” Of course I was at a loss to know who
the writer was. I turned it over and over, looked at it,
studied the postmark, finally opened it and read it.*

* This letter by some means has been misplaced, and all efforts to
find it, or to discover what its exact contents were, have failed. However,
it was from James Webster Smith, the first and then only cadet of color
at West Point. It reassured me very much, telling me not to fear either
blows or insults, and advising me to avoid any forward conduct if I wished
also to avoid certain consequences, “which,” said the writer, “ I have
learned from sad experience,” would be otherwise inevitable. It was a sad
letter. I don't think any thing has so affected me or so influenced my
conduct at West Point as its melancholy tone. That “sad experience”
gave me a world of warning. I looked upon it as implying the confession
of some great error made by him at some previous time, and of its
sadder consequences.

This was another surprise—a welcome surprise,
however. I read it over several times. It showed me
plainly that Smith had not been dismissed, as had been
reported to me at home. I at once formed
a better opinion of West Point than I before had,
and from that day my fears gradually wore away.

The candidates now reported rapidly, and we, who
had reported the day previous, were comparatively
undisturbed. At four o'clock I visited Smith at his quarters
by permission. My visit was necessarily a short one, as
he was then preparing for drill. It sufficed, however, for
us to become acquainted, and for me to receive some
valuable advice. An hour and place were designated for
us to meet next day, and I took my leave of him. The “plebes”
turned out en masse, walked around the grounds
and witnessed the drilling of the battalion. We enjoyed it
immensely. They were that day skirmishing and using
blank cartridges. We thought the drill superb. I was
asked by a fellow-“plebe,” “Think you'll like that?”

“Oh yes,” said I, “when I can do it as easily as they
do.”

We had quite a lengthy conversation about the fine
appearance of the cadets, their forms, so straight and
manly, evoking our greatest admiration. This, alas! was
our only conversation on any subject. The gentleman
discovered ere long that he too was prejudiced, and thus
one by one they “cut” me, whether for prudential reasons
or not I can not presume to say.

I went into the office one day, and standing uncovered
at about the middle of the room, in the position of
the soldier, saluted and thus addressed a cadet officer
present:

“Candidate Flipper, United States Military Academy,
reports his entrance into this office, sir.”

He instantly sprang from his seat into rather close
proximity to my person and angrily yelled:

“Well, sir, I want to hear you say ‘Mr. Smith.’
I want you to understand, sir, he is a cadet and you're a
‘plebe,’ and I don't want to see such familiarity on your
part again, sir,” putting particular emphasis on “Mr.”

Having thus delivered himself he resumed his seat,
leaving me, I imagine, more scared than otherwise.

“What do you want?” asked he again, after a pause
of a moment or so.

“Permission to visit Mr. Smith.”

Without condescending to notice for the time my
request he gave the interview a rather ludicrous turn, I
thought, by questioning me somewhat after this manner:

“Can you dance, Mr. Flipper?”

Having answered this to his entire satisfaction, he
further asked:

“Expect to attend the hops this summer?”

“Oh no, sir,” replied I, smiling, as he also was, for I
had just discovered the drift of his questions. After
mischievously studying my countenance for a moment, he
returned to the original subject and queried, “Where do
you want to go?”

I told him.

“Well, get out of my sight.”

I considered the permission granted, and hastily
withdrew to take advantage of it.

Between breakfast and supper those of us who had
been there at least a day had quite a pleasant time. We
were not troubled with incessant inspections or
otherwise. We either studied for examination or walked
around the grounds. At or near seven o'clock, the time of
retreat parade, we were formed near our barracks and
inspected. Our ranks were opened and the cadet
lieutenant inspected our clothing and appearance
generally. A not infrequent occurrence on these
occasions was:

“Well, mister, what did you shave with—a shoehorn?”

At this we would smile, when the lieutenant, sergeant,
or corporal would jump at us and yell:

“Wipe that smile off your face, sir! What do you
mean, sir, by laughing in ranks?”

If any one attempted to reply he was instantly
silenced with—

“Well, sir, don't reply to me in ranks.”

The inspection would be continued. Some one,
unable to restrain himself—the whole affair was so
ridiculous—would laugh right out in ranks. He was a
doomed man.

“What do you mean, sir, by laughing in ranks, sir?”

Having been once directed not to reply in ranks, the
poor “plebe” would stand mute.

“Well, Sir, don't you intend to answer me?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Well, sir, step it out. What were you grinning at?”

“Nothing, sir.”

“Nothing! Well, sir, you're a pretty thing to be
grinning at nothing. Get in ranks.”

The inspection would, after many such interruptions,
be continued. Ranks would at length be closed and the
command, “In place, rest!” given. The battalion would
march in from parade at double time and form in the area
to our rear. The delinquencies of the day previous would
then be published by the cadet adjutant.

What most strikes a “plebe” is this same publication.
He hasn't the remotest idea of what it is. Not a
word uttered by the adjutant is understood by him. He
stands and wonders what it is. A perfect jargon of
words, unintelligible and meaningless to him! I remember
distinctly how I used to wonder, and how I was laughed
at when I asked for information concerning it. We “plebes”
used to speak of it often, and wonder if it was not
French. When we were better acquainted with the rules
and customs of the Academy we learned what it was. It
was something of this nature, read from the
“Delinquency Book:”

DELINQUENCIES, TUESDAY, OCT. 12.
ADAMS.—Late at reveille roll-call.BEJAY.—Sentinel not coming to “Arms, Port,” when addressed by the officer of the day.SAME.—Not conversant with orders at same.BARNES.—Same at same.SAME.—Sentinel, neglect of duty, not requiring cadet leaving his
post to report his departure and destination.SAME.—Hanging head, 4 P.M.BULOW.—Dust on mantel at inspection, 9.30 A.M.SAME.—Executing manual of arms with pointer in section-room,
9 A.M.SAME.—Using profane expression, 1 P.M.CULLEN.—Out of bed at taps.DOUNS.—Light in quarters, 11 p.m. SAME.—Not prepared on 47 Velasquez.** For these delinquencies the cadets are allowed to write
explanations. If the offence is absence from quarters or any duty without
authority, or is one committed in the Academical Department, called an
Academical Delinquency, such as not being prepared on some lesson, an
explanation is required and must be written. For all other offences the
cadet can write an explanation or not as he chooses. If the explanation is
satisfactory, the offence is removed and he gets no demerits, otherwise
he does. For form of explanation see Chapter X., latter part.

On the 26th of May, another colored candidate
reported. It is said he made the best show at the
preliminary examination. Unfortunately, however, he was
“found” at the following semi-annual examination. He
was brought up to my quarters by a corporal, and I was
ordered to give him all instruction which had previously
been given me. This I did, and his first days at West Point
were much more pleasant than mine had been.

The candidates had now all reported, and Monday
afternoon, May 28th, we were each given by the Adjutant
in person a slip of paper upon which was written the
number of each man's name in an alphabetically
arranged roll. This we had special directions to preserve.
The next day we were marched up to the Drawing
Academy, and examined in grammar, history, and
geography; the following day in orthography and reading.
On the same day, also, we were required to write out a
list of all the textbooks we had used in our previous school-
days. The day following we were divided into sections
and marched to the library, where the Academic Board
was in readiness to examine us in mathematics. It
took quite a while to examine our class of more
than one hundred members thus orally. I am not
positive about the dates of the examination. I
know it occurred in the immediate vicinity of those
named.

Not many days after this the result of the examination
was made known to us. The familiar cry, “Candidates,
turn out promptly,” made at about noon, informed us that
something unusual was about to occur. It was a fearful
moment, and yet I was sure I had “passed.” The only
questions I failed on were in geography. I stood motionless
while the order was being read until I heard my name
among the accepted ones. I felt as if a great burden had
been removed from my mind. It was a beginning, and if
not a good one, certainly not a bad one. What has been
the ending? Let the sequel show.

Now that the examination was over and the deficient
ones gone, we were turned out for drill every morning at
half—past five o'clock and at four in the afternoon. We
were divided into squads of one each, and drilled twice a
day in the “settings up” until about June 20th. After a few
drills, however, the squads were consolidated into others
of four, six, and eight each. The surplus drill-masters
were “turned in.” Their hopes were withered, for it was
almost a certainty that those who were “turned in” would
not be “made.” They expected to be “made” on their
proficiency in drilling, and when it was shown by being
“turned in” that others had been thought better drill-masters,
they were not a little disappointed. How they
“boned” tactics!
What proficiency they manifested! How they yelled out
their commands! What eagerness they showed to
correct errors, etc. And yet some could not overcome
their propensity for hazing, and these were of course
turned in. Not always thus, however. Those who were
not “turned in” were not always “made”
corporals. Often
those who were so treated “got the chevrons” after all.

“Plebe drill,” or, more familiarly, “squad drill,” has
always been a source of great amusement to citizens, but
what a horror to plebes. Those torturous twistings and
twirlings, stretching every nerve, straining every sinew,
almost twisting the joints out of place and making life one
long agonizing effort. Was there ever a “plebe,” or recruit,
who did not hate, did not shudder at the mere mention
of squad drill? I did. Others did. I remember distinctly my
first experience of it. I formed an opinion, a morbid dislike
of it then, and have not changed it. The benefit, however,
of “squad drill” can not be overestimated. It makes the
most crooked, distorted creature an erect, noble, and
manly being, provided, of course, this distortion be a result
of habit and not a natural deformity, the result of laziness
in one's walking, such as hanging the head, dropping the
shoulders, not straightening the legs, and crossing them
when walking.

Squad drill is one of the painful necessities of military
discipline, and no one regrets his experience of it,
however displeasing it may have been at the time. It is
squad drill and hazing that so successfully mould the
coarser characters who come to West Point into officers
and gentlemen. They teach him
how to govern and be governed. They are more
effectual in polishing his asperities of disposition and
forming his character than any amount of regulations
could be. They tame him, so to speak.

Squad drill was at once a punishment, a mode of
hazing, and a drill. For the least show of grossness one
was sure to be punished with “settings up, second time!”
“settings up, fourth time! “Continue the motion,
settings up second (or fourth) time!” We would be kept at
these motions until we could scarcely move. Of course all
this was contrary to orders. The drill-master would be
careful not to be “hived.” If he saw an officer even looking
at him, he would add the command “three,” which caused
a discontinuance of the motion. He would change,
however, to one of the other exercises immediately, and
thus keep the plebes continually in motion. When he
thought the punishment sufficient he would discontinue it
by the command, “three,” and give “place,
rest.” When
the “place, rest” had been just about sufficient to allow the
plebe to get cool and in a measure rested, the drill would
be resumed by the command “'tion, squad” (abbreviated
from “attention” and pronounced “shun”). If the plebe
was slow, “place, rest” was again given, and

“When I give the command ‘'tion, squad,’ I want to
see you spring up with life.”

“'Tion, squad!”

Plebe is slow again.

“Well, mister, wake up. This is no trifling matter.
Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, sir, don't reply to me in ranks.”

And many times and terms even more severe than
these.

Now that Williams and myself were admitted, the
newspapers made their usual comments on such
occurrences. I shall quote a single one from The New
National Era and Citizen, published in Washington, D.C.,
and the political organ of the colored people. The
article, however, as I present it, is taken from another
paper, having been by it taken from the Era and Citizen:

“COLORED CADETS AT WEST POINT.

“The New National Era and Citizen, which is the national organ of
the colored people, contains a sensible article this week on the status of
colored cadets at West Point. After referring to the colored young men,
‘Plebes’ Flipper of Georgia, and Williams of Virginia, who have passed the
examination requisite for entering the Academy, the Era and Citizen
says: ‘Now that they are in, the stiff and starched protègès of the Government make haste to tell the reporters that “none of the fellows
would hurt them, but every fellow would let them alone.” Our reporter
seems to think that “to be let alone” a terrible doom. So it is, if one is
sent to Coventry by gentlemen. So it is, if one is neglected by those who, in
point of education, thrift, and morality are our equals or superiors. So it
is not, if done by the low-minded, the ignorant, and the snobbish. If it be
possible, among the four hundred young charity students of the
Government, that Cadet Smith, for instance, finds no warm friends, and
has won no respect after the gallant fight he has made for four years—a
harder contest than he will ever have in the sterner field—then we despair
of the material which West Point is turning out. If this be true, it is
training selfish, snobbish martinets—not knightly soldiers, not Havelocks,
Hardinges, and Kearneys—but the lowest type of disciplined and
educated force and brutality—the Bluchers and Marlboroughs. We scarcely
believe this, however, and we know that any young man, whether he be
poor or black, or both, may enter any first-class college in America and
find warm sympathetic friends, both among students and faculty, if he but
prove himself to be possessed of some good qualities . . . . If the Smiths,
Flippers, and Williamses in their honorable school-boy careers can not
meet
social as well as intellectual recognition while at West Point, let them
study on and acquit themselves like men, for they will meet, out in the
world, a worthy reception among men of worth, who have put by the
prejudices of race and the shackles of ignorance. Emerson says
somewhere that “Solitude, the nurse of Genius, is the foe of mediocrity.”
If our young men of ability have the stuff in them to make men out of,
they need not fear “to be let alone” for a while; they will ultimately
come to the surface and attain worthy recognition.’

“That is plain, practical talk. We like it. It has the ring of the true
metal. It shows that the writer has faith in the ultimate triumph of
manhood. It is another form for expressing a firm belief that real worth
will find a reward. Never has any bond people emerged from slavery into
a condition full of such grand opportunities and splendid possibilities as
those which are within the reach of the colored people of the United
States; but if those opportunities are to be made available, if those
possibilities are to be realized, the colored people must move into the
fore-front of action and study and work in their own behalf. The
colored cadets at West Point, the colored students in the public schools,
the colored men in the professions, the trades, and on the plantations,
can not be idlers if they are to compete with the white race in the
acquisition of knowledge and property. But they have examples of
notable achievements in their own ranks which should convince them
that they have not the slightest reason to despair of success. The doors
stand wide open, from the plantation to the National Capitol, and every
American citizen can, if he will, attain worthy recognition.”

And thus, ere we had entered upon our new duties,
were we forewarned of the kind of treatment we should
expect. To be “sent to Coventry,” “to be let severely
alone,” are indeed terrible dooms, but we cared naught
for them. “To be let alone” was what we wished. To be
left to our own resources for study and improvement,
for enjoyment in whatever way we chose to seek it, was
what we desired. We cared not for social recognition.
We did not expect it, nor were we disappointed in not
getting it. We would not seek it. We would not
obtrude ourselves upon them. We would not accept
recognition unless it was made willingly. We would be of
them at least independent. We would mark out for
ourselves a uniform course of conduct and follow it
rigidly. These were our resolutions. So long as we were
in the right we knew we should be recognized by those
whose views were not limited or bound by such narrow
confines as prejudice and caste, whether they were at
West Point or elsewhere. Confident that right on our own
part would secure us just treatment from others, that “if
we but prove ourselves possessed of some good qualities”
we could find friends among both faculty and students.

I came to West Point, notwithstanding I had heard so
much about the Academy well fit to dishearten and keep
one away. And then, too, at the time I had no object in
seeking the appointment other than to gratify an ordinary
ambition. Several friends were opposed to my accepting it,
and even persuaded me, or rather attempted to persuade
me, to give up the idea altogether. I was inexorable. I had
set my mind upon West Point, and no amount of
persuasion, and no number of harrowing narratives of bad
treatment, could have induced me to relinquish the object I
had in view. But I was right. The work I chose, and from
which I could not flinch without dishonor, proved far more
important than either my friends or myself at first thought it would be.

Let me not, however, anticipate. Of this importance more anon.

CHAPTER IV.
CANT TERMS, ETC.

AS a narrative of this description is very apt to be dry and
uninteresting, I have thought it possible to remove in a
measure this objection by using as often as convenient the
cant lingo of the corps. A vocabulary which shall contain
it all, or nearly all, becomes necessary. I have taken great
care to make it as full as possible, and at the same time
as intelligible as possible.

There are a few cant words and expressions which
are directly personal, and in many cases self-explanatory.
They are for such reasons omitted.

“Plebe.”—A candidate after admission, a new cadet.
After the candidates are examined and the proficient
ones admitted, these latter are known officially as “new
cadets,” but in the cant vernacular of the corps they are
dubbed “plebes,” and they retain this designation till the
candidates of the next year report. They are then called “yearlings,”
a title applied usually to them in camp only.
After the encampment they become “furloughmen” until
they return from furlough in August of the following year.
They then are “second-classmen,” and are so officially
and à la cadet throughout the year.
From this time till they graduate they are known as the
“graduating class,” so that, except the second class, each
class has its own peculiar cant designation.

Candidates generally report in May—about the 20th
—and during July and August are in camp. This is their
“plebe camp.” The next is their, “yearling camp.” During
the next, they are en congé, and the next and last is their
“ first-class camp.” Of “plebe camp,” “yearling camp,”
and “first-class camp,” more anon.

“Rapid.”—A “plebe” is said to be “rapid” when he shows a disposition to resist hazing, or to “bone
familiarity” with older cadets—i.e., upper classmen.

“Sep.”—A cadet who reported for admission in
September.

“Fins.”—A term applied to the hands generally, of
course to the hands of “plebes.”

“Prelim.”—A preliminary examination.

“Pred.”—A predecessor.

“Pony.”—A key, a corrigé.

“To bone.”—To study, to endeavor to do well in any
particular; for instance, to “bone demerits” is to strive to
get as few as possible.

“To bone popularity.”—This alludes to a habit
practised, especially by, “yearlings” while in camp, and is
equivalent to our every-day expression in civil life, viz., “to
get in with.”

“To bugle it.”—To avoid a recitation. To avoid a
recitation is an act seldom done by any cadet. It is in fact
standing at the board during the whole time of recitation
without turning around, and thus making known a
readiness to recite. At the Academy
a bugle takes the place of the bell in civil schools. When
the bugle is blown those sections at recitation are
dismissed, and others come in. Now, if one faces the
board till the bugle blows, there is not then enough time
for him to recite, and he is said to have “bugled it.” Some
instructors will call on any one who shows a disposition to
do so, and will require him to tell what he knows about his
subject.

“Busted,” “broken.”—These words apply only to
cadet officers who are reduced to ranks.

“A cold case.”—A sure thing, a foregone
conclusion.

To “get chevrons.”—To receive an appointment in
the battalion organization. Each year, on the day the
graduates receive their diplomas, and just after—possibly
just before—they are relieved from further duty at the
Academy, the order fixing the appointments for the next
year is read, and those of the year previous revoked. It
has been customary to appoint the officers, captains, and
lieutenants from the first class, the sergeants from the
second, and the corporals from the third. This custom has
at times, and for reasons, been departed from, and the
officers chosen as seemed best.

For any offence of a grave nature, any one who has
chevrons is liable to lose them, or, in other words, to be
reduced to ranks.

“A cit.”—Any citizen.

“To crawl over.”—To haze, generally in the
severest manner possible.

“A chapel.”—An attendance at church.

“To curse out.”—To reprimand, to reprove, and
also simply to interview. This expression does not
by any means imply the use of oaths.

“To cut,” “To cut cold.”—To avoid, to ostracize.

“Debauch.”—Any ceremony or any thing unusual.
It may be a pleasant chat, a drill, or any thing
that is out of the usual routine.

“To drive a squad.”—To march it.

“Dropped.”—Not promoted.

“To eat up.”—See “To crawl over.”

“Exaggerations.”—It is a habit of the cadets to
exaggerate on certain occasions, and especially when
policing. “A log of wood,” “a saw-mill,” “a forest,”
and kindred expressions, are applied to any
fragment of wood of any description that may be lying
about. A feather is “a pillow;” a straw, “a broom
factory;” a pin, an “iron foundry;” a cotton string, “a
cotton factory;” and I have known a “plebe” to be told
to “get up that sugar refinery,” which “refinery” was
a cube of sugar crushed by some one treading upon
it.

Any thing—whatever it may be—which must be
policed, is usually known by some word or term
suggested by its use or the method or the place of
its manufacture.

“To find.”—To declare deficient in studies
or discipline.

An “extra” is an extra tour of guard duty given
as punishment. Cadets on “extra” are equipped as
for parade, and walk in the area of Cadet Barracks
from two o'clock until retreat, or from two to five
hours, on Saturday or other days of the week. An
“extra” is sometimes called a “Saturday Punishment.”

“A stayback.”—A graduate detained at graduation to instruct the new cadets.*

* When the cadets are in barracks, the officer of the guard on
Sundays either has or assumes authority to detain from church, for any
emergency that might arise, one or two or more members of his guard,
in addition to those on post on duty. Cadets so detained are called “staybacks.

“Scratch day.”—A day when lessons are hard or numerous.

“Gum game.”—A joke.

“To fudge.”—To copy.

BENNY HAVENS O.

[A number of cadets sitting or lounging about the room. One at table
pouring out the drinks. As soon as he is done he takes up his own glass,
and says to the others, “Come, fellows,” and then all together standing:]

—Stand up in a row,For sentimental drinking we're going for to go;In the army there's sobriety, promotion's very slow,So we'll cheer our hearts with choruses of Benny Havens' O.Of Benny Havens' O, of Benny Havens' O,We'll cheer our hearts with choruses of Benny Havens' O.When you and I and Benny, and General Jackson too,Are brought before the final Board our course of life t' review,May we never “fess” on any point, but then be told to goTo join the army of the blest at Benny Havens' O.At Benny Havens' O, at Benny Havens' O,To join the army of the blest at Benny Havens' O.To the ladies of the army let our bumpers ever flow,Companions of our exile, our shield 'gainst every woe,May they see their husbands generals with double pay to show,And indulge in reminiscences of Benny Havens' O.Of Benny Havens O, of Benny Havens' O,And indulge in reminiscences of Benny Havens' O.'Tis said by commentators, in the land where we must goWe follow the same handicraft we followed here below;If this be true philosophy (the sexton, he says no),What days of dance and song we'll have at Benny Havens' O.At Benny Havens' O, at Benny Havens' O,What days of dance and song we'll have at Benny Havens' O!To the ladies of the Empire State, whose hearts and albums tooBear sad remembrance of the wrongs we stripling soldiers do,We bid you all a kind farewell, the best recompense we know—Our loves and rhymings had their source at Benny Havens' O.At Benny Havens' O, at Benny Havens' O,Our loves and rhymings had their source at Benny Havens' O.

[Then, with due solemnity, every head uncovered and bowed low, they
sing:]

There comes a voice from Florida, from Tampa's lonely shore;It is the wail of gallant men, O'Brien is no more;In the land of sun and flowers his head lies pillowed low,No more to sing petite coquille at Benny Havens' O.At Benny Havens' O, at Benny Havens' O,No more to sing petite coquille at Benny Havens' O, etc.
CHAPTER V.
PLEBE CAMP.

“PLEBE CAMP!” The very words are suggestive.
Those who have been cadets know what
“plebe camp” is. To a plebe just beginning his military
career the first experience of camp is most trying.
To him every thing is new. Every one seems determined
to impose upon him, and each individual
“plebe” fancies at times he's picked out from all the
rest as an especially good subject for this abuse (?).
It is not indeed a very pleasant prospect before him,
nor should he expect it to be. But what must be
his feelings when some old cadet paints for his pleasure
camp scenes and experiences? Whatever he
may have known of camp life before seems as
naught to him now. It is a new sort of life he is to
lead there, and he feels himself, although curious
and anxious to test it, somewhat shy of entering
such a place. There is no alternative. He accepts
it resignedly and goes ahead. It is not always with
smiling countenance that he marches out and
surveys the site after reveille. Indeed, those who
do have almost certainly received a highly colored
sketch of camp life, and are hastening to sad disappointment,
and not at all to the joys they've been
led to expect. He marches into the company
streets. He surveys them carefully and recognizes
what is meant by “the plebes have to do all the
policing,” servants being an unknown luxury. He also
sees the sentry-boxes and the paths the sentinels tread,
and shudders as he recollects the tales of midnight
adventure which some wily cadet has
narrated to him. Imagination begins her cruel
work. Already he sees himself lying at the bottom of Fort
Clinton Ditch tied in a blanket, or perhaps fetterless and
free, but helpless. Or he may imagine his hands are tied to
one, and his feet to the other tent-pole, and himself
struggling for freedom as he recognizes that the reveille
gun has been fired and those merciless fifers and
drummers are rapidly finishing the reveille. And, horror of
horrors! mayhap his fancies picture him standing
tremblingly on post at midnight's solemn hour, his gun just
balanced in his hands, while numbers of cadets in hideous
sheets and other ghostly garb approach or are already
standing around torturing him. And again, perchance, he
challenges some approaching person in one direction, and
finds to his dismay the officer of the day, the officer of
the guard, and a corporal are crossing and recrossing his
post, or having already advanced without being
challenged, are demanding why it is, and why he has been
so negligent.

Just after reveille on the morning of June 22d the
companies were marched to their company streets, and
the “plebes” assigned to each followed in rear. At the
time only the tent floors and cord stays were on the
ground. These former the plebes were ordered to align.
This we did while the old
cadets looked on, occasionally correcting or making some
suggestion. It required considerable
time to do this, as we were inexperienced and had to
await some explanation of what we were to do.

When at last we were done, tents, or rather tent
floors, were assigned to us. We thence returned to
barracks and to breakfast. Our more bulky effects
were carried into camp on wagons before breakfast,
while the lighter articles were moved over by our
own hands. By, or perhaps before, eleven o'clock
every thing had been taken to camp. By twelve we
were in ranks ready to march in. At the last stroke
of the clock the column was put in march, and we
marched in with all the “glory of war.” We stacked
arms in the company streets, broke ranks, and each
repaired to the tent assigned him, which had by this
time been brought over and placed folded on the
tent floors. They were rapidly prepared for raising,
and at a signal made on a drum the tents were raised
simultaneously, 'mid rousing cheers, which told
that another “camp” was begun.

After this we had dinner, and then we put our
tents in order. At four o'clock the police-call was
sounded, and all the “plebes” were turned out to
police the company streets. This new phase of West
Point life—and its phases rapidly developed themselves
—was a hard one indeed. The duties are
menial, and very few discharge them without some
show of displeasure, and often of temper. None are
exempt. It is not hard work, and yet every one
objects to doing it. The third and fourth classes,
by regulations, are required to do the policing.
When I was a plebe, the plebes did it all. Many
indeed tried to shirk it, but they were invariably
“hived.” Every plebe who attempted any such
thing was closely watched and made to work. The old
cadets generally chose such men for “special dutymen,”
and required them to bring water, pile bedding, sweep the
floor, and do all sorts of menial services. Of course all
this last is prohibited, and therefore risky. Somebody
is “hived” and severely punished almost every year for
allowing plebes to perform menial duties for him. But
what of that? The more dangerous it becomes the more is
it practised. Forbidden things always have an alluring
sweetness about them. More caution, however, is
observed. If, for instance, a cadet should want a pail of
water, he causes a plebe to empty his (the plebe's) into
his own (the cadet's). If it should be empty, he sends him
to the hydrant to fill it, and, when he returns, gets
possession of it as before. An officer seeing a plebe with
his own pail—recognizable by his own name being on it
in huge Roman characters—going for water would say
nothing to him. If the name, however, should be that of a
cadet, the plebe would be fortunate if he escaped an
investigation or a reprimand on the spot, and the cadet,
too, if he were not put in arrest for allowing a new cadet
to perform menial services for him. If he wants a dipper
of iced-water, he calls out to the first plebe he sees in
some such manner as this: “Oh! Mr.—, don't you
want to borrow my dipper for a little while?” The plebe of
course understands this. He may smile possibly, and if not
serving some punishment will go for the water.

Plebes are also required to clean the equipments of
the older cadets. They do it cheerfully, and, strange to
say, are as careful not to be “hived” as
the cadet whose accoutrements they are cleaning. I
say “required.” I do not mean that regulations or
orders require this of the new cadets, but that the
cadets by way of hazing do. From the heartrending
tales of hazing at West Point, which citizens sometimes
read of, one would think the plebes would
offer some resistance or would complain to the authorities.
These tales are for the most part untrue. In earlier
days perhaps hazing was practised in a more inhuman
manner than now. It may be impossible,
and indeed is, for a plebe to cross a company street
without having some one yell out to him: “Get
your hands around, mister. Hold your head up;”
but all that is required by tactics. Perhaps the
frequency and unnecessary repetition of these cautions
give them the appearance of hazing. However that
may be, there seems to be no way to impress upon
a plebe the necessity of carrying his “palms to the
front,” or his “head up.” To report him and give
him demerits merely causes him to laugh and joke
over the number of them that have been recorded
against him.

I do not mean to defend hazing in any sense of
the word; but I do believe that it is indispensable as
practised at the Academy. It would simply be
impossible to mould and polish the social
amalgamation at West Point without it. Some of the
rough specimens annually admitted care nothing for
regulations. It is fun to them to be punished.
Nothing so effectually makes a plebe submissive as
hazing. That contemptuous look and imperious
bearing lowers a plebe, I sometimes think, in his
own estimation. He is in a manner cowed and made
to feel
that he must obey, and not disobey; to feel that he is a
plebe, and must expect a plebe's portion. He is taught by
it to stay in his place, and not to “bone popularity” with
the older cadets.

It is frequently said that “plebe camp” and “plebe life” are
the severest parts of life at West Point. To some they
are, and to others they are not. With my own self I was
almost entirely free from hazing, and while there were
features in “plebe life” which I disliked, I did nevertheless
have a far easier and better time than my own white
classmates. Even white plebes often go through their
camp pleasantly and profitably. Only those who shirk duty
have to suffer any unusual punishment or hazing.

I have known plebes to be permitted to do any thing
they chose while off duty. I have known others to have
been kept working on their guns or other equipments whole
days for several days at a time. It mattered not how clean
they were, or how soon the work was done. I've known
them to be many times interrupted for the mere sake of
hazing, and perhaps to be sent somewhere or to do
something which was unnecessary and would have been
as well undone. Plebes who tent with first-classmen
keep their own tents in order, and are never permitted by
their tentmates to do any thing of the kind for others unless
when wanted, are entirely unoccupied, and then usually
their services are asked for. A classmate of mine, when a
plebe, tented with a first-classman. He was doing
something for himself one day in a free-and-easy
manner, and had no thought of disturbing any one. A
yearling corporal,
who was passing, saw him, thought he was having
too good and soft a time of it, and ordered him out to
tighten cords, an act then highly uncalled for, save as a
means of hazing. The first-classman happened to come up
just as the plebe began to interfere with the cords, and
asked him who told him to do that. He told him, and was
at once directed to leave them and return to whatever he
was doing before being interrupted. The yearling,
confident in his red tape and his mightiness, ordered the
plebe out again. His corporalship soon discovered his
mistake, for the first-classman gave the plebe full
information as to what could be required of him, and told
him to disobey any improper order of the corporal's which
was plainly given to haze him. The affair was made
personal. A fight ensued. The corporal was worsted, to
the delight, I imagine, of the plebes.

Again, I've known plebes to be stopped from work—if
they were doing something for a cadet—to transfer it to
some other one who was accustomed to shirk all the duty
he could, or who did things slowly and slovenly. Indeed I
may assert generally that plebes who are willing to work
have little to do outside of their regular duty, and fare in
plebe camp quite as well as yearlings; while those who
are stubborn and careless are required to do most all the
work. Cadets purposely select them and make them
work. They, too, are very frequently objects of hazing in
its severest form. At best, though, plebe camp is rather
hard, its numerous drills, together with guard and police
duty, make it the severest
and most undesirable portion of the four years a cadet
spends at the Academy.

To get up at five o'clock and be present at reveille
roll-call, to police for half an hour, to have squad drill during
the next hour, to put one's tent in order after that, and
then to prepare one's self for breakfast at seven, make up
a rather trying round of duties. To discharge them all—and
that must certainly be done—keeps one busy; but who
would not prefer little extra work—and not hard work at
that—in the cooler part of the day to an equal amount in
the heated portion of it? I am sure the plebes do. I know
the corporals and other officers who drill them do,
although they lose their after-reveille sleep.

After breakfast comes troop parade at eight o'clock,
guard mounting immediately after, and the establishment
of the “color line.” Arms and accoutrements must be in
perfect order. The plebes clean them during the
afternoon, so that before parade it is seldom necessary to
do more than wipe off dust, or adjust a belt, or something of
the kind.

After establishing the “color line,” which is
done about 8.30 A.M., all cadets, save those on guard
and those marching on, have time to do whatever
they choose. The cadets generally repair to the
guard tents to see lady friends and other acquaintances,
while the plebes either interest themselves in
the inspection of “color men,” or make ready for
artillery drill at nine. The latter drill, commencing
at 9 A.M., continues for one hour. The yearlings
and plebes receive instruction in the manual and
nomenclature of the piece. The drill is not very trying
unless the heavy guns are used—I mean unless they
are drilled at the battery of twelve-pounders. Of late
both classes have been drilled at batteries of three-inch
rifles. These are light and easily manoeuvred, and unless
the heat be intense the drill is a very pleasant one.

The first class, during this same hour, are drilled at the
siege or seacoast battery. The work here is sometimes
hard and sometimes not. When firing, the drill is pleasant
and interesting, but when we have mechanical
manoeuvres all this pleasantness vanishes. Then we
have hard work. Dismounting and mounting is not a very
pleasant recreation.

At eleven o'clock, every day for a week or ten days,
the plebes have manual drill. This is entirely in the shade,
and when “In place, rest,” is frequently given, is not at all
displeasing, except when some yearling corporal evinces
a disposition to haze. At five o'clock this drill is repeated
Then comes parade, supper, tattoo, and best of all a long
night's rest. The last two drills continue for a few days
only, and sometimes do not take place at all.

The third class, or the yearlings, have dancing from
eleven to twelve, and the plebes from then till one. In the
afternoon the plebes have nothing to do in the way of duty
till four o'clock. The camp is then policed, and when that
is done there may or may not be any further duty to
discharge till retreat parade. After the plebes are put in
the battalion—that is, after they begin drilling, etc., with
their companies—all cadets attend company drill at
five o'clock. After attending a few of these drills the
first class is excused from further attendance during the
encampment. One officer and the requisite number of
privates, however, are detailed from the class each day to
act as officers at these drills.

I omitted to say that the first class received in the
forenoon instruction in practical military engineering and
ordnance.

What most tries plebes, and yearlings, too, is guard
duty. If their classes are small, each member of them is
put on guard every third or fourth day. To the plebes,
being something entirely new, guard duty is very, very
obnoxious.

During the day they fare well enough, but as soon as
night comes “well enough” disappears. They are liable at
any moment to be visited by cadets on a hazing tour from
the body of the camp, or by the officers and non-
commissioned officers of the guard. The latter generally
leave the post of the guard in groups of three or four.
After getting into camp they separate, and manage to
come upon a sentinel simultaneously and from all points
of the compass. If the sentinel isn't cool, he will challenge
and advance one, and possibly let the others come upon
him unchallenged and unseen even. Then woe be to him!
He'll be “crawled over” for a certainty, and to make his
crimes appear as bad as possible, will be reported for
“neglect of duty while a sentinel, allowing the officers and
non—commissioned officers of the guard to advance
upon him, and to cross his post repeatedly without being
challenged.” He knows the report to be true, and if he
submits an explanation for the offence his inexperience
will be considered, and he will probably get no
demerits for his neglect of duty.

But the best joke of all is in their manner of calling
off the half-hours at night, and of challenging.
Sometimes we hear No. 2 call off, “No. 2, ten
o'clock, and all is well,” in a most natural and
unconcerned tone of voice, while No. 3 may sing out,
“No. 3, ten o'clock and all is well-l-l,” changing his
tone only on the last word. Then No. 4, with another
variation, may call off, “No. 4, ten o'clock,
and all-l-l-l's well,” changing his tone on “all-l-l-l's,”
and speaking the rest, especially the last word,
in a low and natural manner of voice, and sometimes
abruptly. And so on along the entire chain of sentinels, each
one calls off in a manner different from that of the rest.
Sometimes the calling off is scarcely to be heard,
sometimes it is loud and full, and again it is distinct but squeakish.
It is indeed most delightful to be in one's tent and here
the plebes call off in the still quiet hours of the night.
One can't well help laughing, and yet all plebes,
more or less, call off in the same manner.

Plebe sentinels are very troublesome sometimes
to the non-commissioned officers of the guard. They
receive their orders time after time, and when
inspected for them most frequently spit them out with
ease and readiness; but just as soon as night comes,
and there is a chance to apply them, they “fess
utterly cold,” and in the simplest things at that.
Nine plebes out of ten almost invariably challenge
thus, “Who comes here?” “Who stands here?”
“Who goes here?” as the case may be, notwithstanding
they have been repeatedly instructed orally,
and have seen the words, as they should be, in the
regulations. If a person is going, and is a hundred yards or
so off, it is still, “Who goes here?” Everything is “here.”

One night the officer of the day concealed himself
near a sentinel's post, and suddenly appeared on it. The
plebe threw his gun down to the proper position and
yelled out, “Who comes here?” The officer of the day
stopped short, whereupon the plebe jumped at him and
shouted, “Who stands here?” Immediately the officer
started off, saying as he did so, “I'm not standing; I'm
going.” Then of course the challenge was again changed
to, “Who goes here? “ I'm not going; I'm coming,”
said the officer, facing about and approaching the
sentinel. This was kept up for a considerable time, till the
officer of the day got near a sentry-box and suddenly
disappeared. The plebe knew he was there, and yelled in
a louder tone than before, “Who stands here? “Sentry-
box,” was the solemn and ghostly response.

It is hardly reasonable, I think, to say the plebe was
frightened; but he actually stood there motionless,
repeating his challenge over and over again, “Who stands
here?”

There was a light battery in park near by, and through
this, aided by the gloom, the officer of the day managed
to pass unobserved along, but not on the sentinel's post.
He then got upon it and advanced on him, making the
while much noise with his sword and his heavy tread. He
walked directly up to the sentinel unchallenged, and
startled him by asking, “What are you standing here
yelling for?”

The plebe told him that the officer of the day had
been upon his post, and he had seen him go behind the
sentry-box. And all this to the officer of the day, standing
there before him, “Well, sir, whom do you take me to be?”

The plebe looks, and for the first time brought to full
consciousness, recognizes the officer of the day. Of
course he is surprised, and the more so when the officer
of the day inspects for his—the plebe's—satisfaction
the sentry-box, and finds no one there. He “eats” that
plebe up entirely, and then sends a corporal around to
instruct him in his orders. When the corporal comes it
may be just as difficult to advance him. He may, when
challenged, advance without replying, or, if he replies, he
may say, “Steamboat,” “Captain Jack, Queen of the
Modocs,” as one did say to me, or something or
somebody else not entitled to the countersign. Possibly the
plebe remembers this, and he may command “Halt!” and
call another corporal. This latter may come on a run at
“charge bayonets,” and may not stop till within a foot or
so of the sentinel. He then gets another “cursing out.” By
this time the corporal who first came and was halted has
advanced unchallenged and unnoticed since the arrival of
the second. And then another cursing out. Thus it is that
plebe camp is made so hard.

Surely the officers and non-commissioned officers are
right in testing by all manner of ruses the ability of the
sentinels. It is their duty to instruct them, to see that they
know their orders, and are not afraid to apply them.

Sometimes plebes enjoy it, and like to be cursed out.
Sometimes they purposely advance toward a party
improperly, to see what will be said to them. It is fun to
some, and to others most serious. At best it gives a plebe
a poor opinion of West Point, and while he may bear it
meekly he nevertheless sighs for the
“— touch of a vanished hand,”
the caressing hand of a loving mother or sister. I know I
used to hate the very name of camp, and I had an easier
time, too, than the other plebes.

Of course the plebes, being inexperienced for the
most part, are “high privates in the rear rank.” For
another reason, also, this is the case. The first and
second classes have the right established by immemorial
custom of marching in the front rank, which right
necessarily keeps the plebes in the rear rank, and the
yearlings too, except so many as are required in the front
rank for the proper formation of the company. Another
reason, perhaps, may be given to the same end. We have
what we call class rank, or, in other words, class standing.
Every class has certain privileges and immunities, which
the junior classes do not enjoy; for example, first-classmen,
and second-classmen too—by General Orders
of September, 1876—are excused from guard duty in
the capacity of privates, and are detailed—
first-classmen for officers of the day and officers of the guard,
and second-classmen for non-commissioned officers of
the guard. All members of the third and fourth classes are
privates, and from them the privates of the guard are
detailed. All officers, commissioned and non-commissioned,
are exempt from
“Saturday punishment.” I mean they do not walk
extra tours of guard for punishment. The
non-commissioned officers are sometimes required to serve
such punishments by discharging the duties of corporal or
sergeant in connection with the punishment squad.
Third-and fourth-classmen enjoy no such immunities. Plebes,
then, having no rank whatever, being in fact conditional
cadets until they shall have received their warrants in the
following January, must give way to those who have. One
half or more of the privates of the company must be in
the front rank. This half is made up of those who rank
highest, first-classmen and second-classmen, and also,
if necessary, a number of third-classmen. Plebes must
then, except in rare cases, march in the rear rank, and
from the time they are put in the battalion till the close of
the summer encampment, they are required to carry their
hands with palms to the front as prescribed in the tactics.

All this is kept up till the close of camp, and makes, I
think, plebe camp the most trying part of one's cadet life.

On the 28th of August the furloughmen return, and
report to the commandant at two o'clock for duty.

In the afternoon the battalion is sized and quarters are
assigned under the supervision of the assistant-instructors
of tactics.

At parade the appointment of officers and
noncommissioned officers for the ensuing year is
published, and also orders for the discontinuance of the
encampment.

In the evening the “twenty-eighth hop” takes
place, and is the last of the season. On the 29th—
and beginning at reveille—the cadets move their
effects into winter quarters in barracks. All heavy
articles are moved in on wagons, while all lighter
ones are carried over by cadets themselves. By
seven o'clock every thing is moved away from camp,
save each cadet's accoutrements.

Breakfast is served at 7 A.M., and immediately
afterward comes “troop” and guard-mounting, after
which the entire camp is thoroughly policed. This requires
an hour or more, and when all is done the
“general” is sounded. At this the companies are
formed under arm in their respective company
streets. The arms are then stacked and ranks broken.
At least two cadets repair to each tent, and at the first
tap of the drum remove and roll up all the cords save
the corner ones. At the second tap,
while one cadet steadies the tent the other removes and
rolls the corner cords nearest him. The tents in the body
of the encampment are moved. Back two feet, more or
less, from the color line, while the guard tents and those
of the company officers are moved in a northerly
direction. At the third tap the tents fall simultaneously
toward the color line and the south cardinal point, amid
rousing cheers. The tents being neatly rolled up and
placed on the floors, the companies are reformed and on
the centre. The battalion then marches out to take up its
winter quarters in barracks.

When camp is over the plebes are no longer
required to depress their toes or to carry their hands with
palms to the front. They are, in fact, “cadets and
gentlemen,” and must take care of themselves.

CHAPTER VI.
STUDIES, ETC.

THE academic year begins July 1st, and continues till
about June 20th the following year. As soon after this as
practicable—depending upon what time the examination is
finished—the corps moves into camp, with the exception
of the second class, who go on furlough instead.

Between the 20th of August and the 1st of
September, the “Seps,” or those candidates who were
unable to do so in the spring previous, report. Before the
1st they have been examined and the deficient ones
dismissed. On the 1st, unless that be Sunday, academic
duties begin. The classes are arranged into a number of
sections, according to their class rank, as determined at
the previous annual examination, or according to rank in
some particular study—for instance, for instruction in
engineering the first class is arranged according to merit
in philosophy, and not according to general merit or class
rank. The fourth, or “plebe” class, however, is arranged
alphabetically since they as yet have no class rank.

The first class study, during the first term, engineering
law, and ordnance and gunnery. They recite on civil
engineering from 8 to 11 A.M. daily,
on ordnance and gunnery from 2 to 4 P.M., alternating
with law.

The second class have natural and experimental
philosophy from 8 to 11 A.M. daily, and chemistry,
alternating with riding, from 11 A.M. to 1 P.M.; also
drawing in pencil from 2 to 4 P.M. For instruction in this
department the class is divided into two as nearly equal
parts as practicable, which alternate in attendance at the
Drawing Academy.

The third class have pure mathematics, analytical
Geometry, descriptive geometry, and the principles of shades, shadows, and perspective, from 8 to 11 A.M. daily. They also have French from 11A.M.,
till 1 P.M., alternating with Spanish.

The entire class attend drawing daily till November
1st, when it is divided into two equal parts or platoons,
which attend drawing and riding on alternate clays. Riding!
“Yearling riding!” I must advert to that before I go
further. First let me describe it. A platoon of yearlings,
twenty, thirty, forty perhaps; as many horses; a spacious
riding-hall, with galleries that seat but too many
mischievous young ladies, and whose interior is well
supplied with tan bark, make up the principal objects in
the play. Nay, I omit the most important characters, the
Instructor and the necessary number of enlisted, men.

ACT I.
SCENE I.
Area of barracks. At guard-house door stands an orderly, with drum in
hands. In the area a number of cadets, some in every-day attire, others
dressed à la cavalier. These à la cavalier fellows are going to take their first
lesson in riding. About four-fifths of them were never on a horse in their
lives, and hence what dire expectations hover over their ordinarily placid
heads! They have heard from the upper classmen what trials the novice
experiences in hisfirst efforts, and they do not go to the riding-hall without some dread.
Four o'clock and ten minutes. The drum is beaten.

ACT II.
SCENE I.
The riding-hall, a large, spacious, rectangular structure, door on
each side and at each end, floor well covered with tan bark, spacious
gallery over each side door, staircases outside leading to them. Galleries
are occupied, one by ladies, and, perhaps a number of gentlemen, and the
other by enlisted men usually. In the centre of the hall are a number of
horses, each equipped with a surcingle, blanket, and watering bridle. A
soldier stands at the head of each one of them. As curtain rises enter
platoon by side door, and marches around the left flank of the line of horses and as far forward as necessary.

Instructor (saluting).—The Section Marcher will
take his place on the left.

He then gives all necessary instruction.

“To mount the trooper the Instructor first causes
him to stand to horse by the command ‘Stand tohorse!’ At this command—“ Well, see “Cavalry
Tactics.”

We've got the trooper mounted now. After some
further explanation the Instructor forms them into a
column of files by the commands:

“By file, by the right (or left) flank. March!”

They are now going around the hall at a walk, a slow,
snail-like pace, but what figures some of them present!
Still all goes on quite well. The Instructor is speaking:

“To trot,” says he, “raise the hands” (“yearlings” use
both hands) “slightly. This is to apprise the horse that you
want his attention. Then lower the hands slightly, and at
the same time gently press the horse with the legs until he
takes the gait desired. As soon as he does, relax the
pressure.“ A long pause. The occupants of the galleries
are looking anxiously on. They know what is coming next.
They have seen these drills over and over again. And so
each trooper awaits anxiously the next command. Alas!
It comes! “Trot!”

What peals of laughter from that cruel gallery! But
why? Ah! See there that trooper struggling in the tan
bark while a soldier pursues his steed. He is not hurt. He
gets up, brushes away the tan bark, remounts and starts
off again. But there, he's off again! He's continually
falling off or jumping off purposely (?). What confusion!
There comes one at a full gallop, sticking on as best he
can; but there, the poor fellow is off. The horses are
running away. The troopers are dropping off everywhere
in the hall. No one is hurt. Alas! they pressed too hard
to keep on, and instead of relaxing the pressure
at the desired gait, the trot, they kept on pressing, the
horse taking the trot, the gallop, the run, and the trooper,
alas! the dust. Again they had the reins too long, and
instead of holding on by the flat of the thighs with their
feet parallel to the horse, we see them making all sorts of
angles. But that gallery! that gallery! how I used to wish
it wasn't there! The very sight of a lady under such
circumstances is most embarrassing.

Fair ones, why will you thus torture the “yearlings” by
your at other times so desirable presence?

The fourth class have pure mathematics, and algebra,
daily from 8 to 11 A.M., and French also, daily, from 2 to 4
P.M. Beginning on October 15th, or as near that time as
practicable, they have fencing, and the use of the bayonet
and small-sword.

During the month of September cadets of all classes,
or the battalion, are instructed in the infantry tactics in the
“School of the Battalion.” Near the end of the month it is
customary to excuse the officers of the first class from these drills,
and to detail privates to perform their duties for one drill only at
a time. The other classes are in ranks, or the line of file-closers,
according as they are sergeants, guides, or privates.

During October the several classes receive practical
instruction as follows: The first class in military
engineering, the manner of making and recording the
details of a military reconnoissance, and field sketching;
the second class in siege and sea-coast artillery, and
military signalling and telegraphy. The class is divided into
two parts, composed of the odd and even numbers,
which attend drills on alternate
days—that is, artillery one day and signalling
the next; the third class in light or field artillery,
and the theory and principles of “target practice.”
Sometimes this latter is given during camp, as is
most convenient. Sometimes, also, they
receive instruction in ordnance. This, however, is generally
deferred till they become first-classmen.

For further instruction of the first class the following part of
the personnel of a light battery is detailed from that class, viz.:
three chiefs of platoon, one chief of caissons, one guidon,
and six chiefs of section. Each member of the class is detailed
for each of these offices in his proper order.

The fourth class receives instruction in field artillery at the
“foot batteries.” This instruction is limited to the nomenclature
and manual of the piece. Here, also, to assist the instructor, a
chief of piece for each piece is detailed. They are required to
correct all errors made by the plebes, and sometimes even to
drill them. Hence a knowledge of tactics is indispensable, and
the means of fixing such knowledge in the mind is afforded.

Sometimes also two first-classmen are required to assist
at the siege or sea-coast batteries.

Every day throughout the year a guard is mounted. It
consists of two officers of the guard—sometimes only one—one
sergeant, three corporals—or more—and twenty-four privates—sometimes, also, eighteen or twenty-one in camp, and
twenty-seven in barracks. Every day, also, there is one officer of the
day detailed from the first class.

The weather permitting, we have “dress parade” daily.
When unfavorable, on account of snow, rain,
or severe cold, we have “undress parade”—that is,
parade without arms and in undress or fatigue uniform, the
object being to get us all together to publish the orders,
etc., for the morrow. After November 1st we usually
have “undress parade,” and then “supper mess parade.”
Between these two ceremonies the cadets amuse
themselves at the gymnasium, dancing or skating, or
“spooneying,” or at the library; generally, I think—the upper
classmen at any rate—at the library. After supper we have
recreation and then study. And thus we “live and do” till
January.

The semi-annual examination begins January 1st, or
as soon thereafter as practicable. The plebes are
examined first, and started in their new studies as soon as
possible. After the plebes the other classes are examined
in the order of their rank—that is, first class, second class,
and third class—and of the importance of their studies,
engineering being first, then philosophy, and mathematics,
etc.

The examination being over, the deficient ones, after
receiving orders from the Secretary of War, are
dismissed. Studies are then resumed as follows:

For the first class military engineering, ordnance, and
gunnery, constitutional law, military law, rules of
evidence, practice of courts-martial, mineralogy, and
geology, strategy, and grand tactics, and the throwing
and dismantling of pontoon bridges. For the second class,
acoustics and optics, astronomy, analytical mechanics in
review; infantry, artillery, and cavalry tactics; drawing,
riding, and signalling. For the third class, calculus,
surveying, geometry, and riding. Immediately after the
examination the
entire third class receive instruction in mechanical
drawing before they begin their other mathematical
studies. For the fourth class the studies are plane
geometry, trigonometry, descriptive geometry, and
fencing, including the use of the small-sword,
broad-sword, and bayonet.

Parades, guard duty, etc., remain as previously
described until about the middle of March usually. At
that time the ordinary routine of drills, dress parades, etc.,
is resumed; but drills in this order, viz., from March 15th
to April 1st instruction in the school of the company; in
artillery tactics, as before described during April; and in
infantry tactics, in the “School of the Battalion,” during
May. The annual examination takes place in June. The
following diary, made for the purpose of insertion here,
will best explain what generally occurs during the month:

MEMORANDA.

Thursday, June 1, 1876.—Resumed white pants at
5.10 P.M. Received Board of Visitors by a review at
5.10 P.M. Examination begun at 9 A.M. First class,
engineering. Salute of fifteen guns at meridian to Board
of Visitors.

Friday, June 9.—Battalion skirmish drill 5.10 P.M.
Deployed to front at double time. Second, fourth, and
seventh companies reserve. Almost all manoeuvres at
double time. Deployed by numbers and charged.
Marched in in line, band on right. Broke into column of
companies to the left, changed direction to the right,
obliqued to the left, moved forward and formed “front
into line, faced to the rear.” Arms inspected, ammunition
returned. Dismissed.

Monday, June 12.—Detail from first class to ride in
hall. Use of sabre and pistol on horseback. First class,
ordnance finished. Law begun.

Tuesday, June 13.—First class finished. Board
divided into committees. Second class, chemistry begun.
Graduating parade. Corps cheered by graduates after
parade. Hop in evening; also German; whole continuing
till 3 A.M. Rumor has it two first-classmen, Slocum and
Guilfoyle, are “found” in ordnance and engineering.

Wednesday, June 14.—Fourth class, mathematics
begun. Salute seventeen guns at 10 A.M. in honor of
arrival at post of General Sherman and Colonel Poe of his
staff. Graduating exercises from 11 A.M. till near 1 P.M.
Addresses to graduates. Mortar practice and fireworks at
night.

This ended the “gala” days at West Point in '76.

Thursday, June 15.—Usual routine of duties
resumed. Company drills in the afternoon from 5.10 to
6.10 P.M. Rather unusual, but we're going to the
Centennial. Rumor has it we encamp Saturday the 17th
for ten days.

Monday, June 19.—Moved into camp, aligned tent
floors at .5 A. M. in the rain. Required by order to move in
effects at 9 A. M., and to march in and pitch tents at 12 M.
Rained in torrents. Marched in, etc., at 9 A.M. Effects
moved in afterwards. Rain ceased by 12 M. Marched in.
Second class, tactics finished. Third class, Spanish
finished.

Ordinarily as soon as the examination is over the third
class take advantage of the two months' furlough allowed
them, while other classes go into camp. This
encampment begins June 17th, or a day or two earlier or
later, according to circumstances. This brings me to the
end of the first year. I have described camp life, and
also, I observe, each of the remaining years of cadet life.
On July 1st the plebes become the fourth class; the
original fourth the third; the third, now on furlough, the
second; and the second the first. I have given in an
earlier part of my narrative the studies, etc., of these
several classes.

The plebe, or fourth class of the previous year, are
now become yearlings, and are therefore in their “yearling
camp.” At the end of every month an
extract from the class and conduct report of each
cadet is sent to his parents or guardian for their in-
formation. I insert a copy of one of these monthly
reports.

[Image of Class and Conduct Report, March 26, 1875, for Cadet Henry O. Flipper, Third Class]

UNITED STATE MILITARY
West Point, N. Y.,March 26, 1875.

EXTRACT from the Class and Conduct Reports of the MILITARY ACADEMY for the month of February, 1875, furnished for the information of Parents and Guardians,

His demerit for the month is 2, and since the commencement of the academic half year, 23.

Robt. W. Hall,Captain 10th Infantry,Adjutant Military Academy.

Par. 71.—When any Cadet shall have a total of numbers [of demerits] thus recorded, exceeding one hundred in six months, he shall be declared deficient in discipline.

Par. 153.—No Cadet shall apply for, or receive, money, or any other supplies from his parents, or from any person whomsoever, without permission of the Superintendent.

Note.—The attention of Parents and Guardians is invited to the foregoing Regulations. The permission referred to in paragraph 153 must be obtained before the shipment to the Cadet of the supplies desired.

STEREOTOMY AND CIVIL ENGINEERING. [Table]

STEREOTOMY AND CIVIL ENGINEERING. [Table]

CIVIL ENGINEERING. [Table]

CIVIL ENGINEERING. [Table]

CIVIL ENGINEERING. [Table]

CIVIL ENGINEERING. [Table]

CIVIL ENGINEERING. [Table]

CIVIL ENGINEERING. [Table]

LAW. [Table]

LAW. [Table]

LAW. [Table]

LAW. [Table]

ORDNANCE AND GUNNERY. [Table]

ORDNANCE AND GUNNERY. [Table]

ORDNANCE AND GUNNERY. [Table]

ORDNANCE AND GUNNERY. [Table]

CHAPTER VII.
YEARLING CAMP.

IN this chapter I shall describe only those phases
of cadet life which are experienced by “yearlings”
in their “yearling camp.”

Beginning July 5th, or as soon after as practicable,
the third class receive practical instruction in the
nomenclature and manual of the field-piece. This drill
continues till August 1st, when they begin the “School of
the Battery.”

The class attend dancing daily. Attendance at dancing
is optional with that part of the third class called
“yearlings,” and compulsory for the “Seps,” who of
course do not become yearlings till the following
September. The third class also receive instruction in the
duties of a military laboratory, and “target practice.”
These instructions are not always given during camp.
They may be given in the autumn or spring.

Another delight of the yearling is to “bone colors.”
Immediately in front of camp proper is a narrow path
extending entirely across the ground, and known as the
“color line.” On the 1st of August—sometimes before—
the “color line” is established, this name being applied
also to the purpose of the color line. This ceremony consists in
stacking arms just in rear of the color line, and placing
the colors on the two stacks nearest the centre of the
line.

From the privates of the guard three are chosen to
guard the stacks and to require every one who crosses
the color line or passes within fifteen paces of the colors
to salute them. These three sentinels are known as the
“colors,” or “color men,” and are numbered “first,” “second,”
and “third.”

Those are chosen who are neatest and most
soldierlike in their appearance. Cadets prepare
themselves specially for this, and they toss up their guns
to the adjutant at guard-mounting. This signifies that they
intend competing for “colors.” The adjutant falls them out
after the guard has marched to its post, and inspects
them. Absolute cleanliness is necessary. Any spot of dirt,
dust, or any thing unclean will often defeat one. Yearlings
“bone” their guns and accoutrements for “colors,” and
sometimes get them every time they toss up.

A “color man” must use only those equipments
issued to him. He cannot borrow those of a man who has
“boned them up” and expect to get colors. Sometimes—
but rarely—plebes compete and win.

The inducement for this extra labor is simply this:
Instead of being on duty twenty-four hours, color men
are relieved from 4 P.M. till 8 A. M. the next day, when
they march off. They of course enjoy all other privileges
given the “Old Guard.”

“Sentinels for the Color Line.—The sentinels for
the color line will be permitted to go to their tents from
the time the stacks are broken till 8 A.M. the following
morning, when they will rejoin the guard. They will be
excused from
marching to meals, but will report to the officer of the
guard at the roll-call for each meal, and also at tattoo and
reveille.“—(From Résumé of Existing Orders, U. S. C. C.)

It is the yearling who does most of the hazing. Just
emerged from his chrysalis state, having the year before
received similar treatment at the hands of other yearlings,
he retaliates, so to speak, upon the now plebe, and finds
in such retaliation his share of enjoyment.

The practice, however, is losing ground. The cadets
are more generous, and, with few exceptions, never
interfere with a plebe. This is certainly an advance in the
right direction; for although hazing does comprise some
good, it is, notwithstanding, a low practice, one which
manliness alone should condemn. None need information
and assistance more than plebes, and it is unkind to
refuse it ; nay, it is even not humane to refuse it and also
to haze the asker. Such conduct, more than any thing
else, discourages and disheartens him. It takes from him
all desire to do and earn, to study or strive for success.
At best it can be defended only as being effective where
regulations are not, viz., in the cases of rough specimens
who now not infrequently manage to win their
appointments.

Formerly in yearling camp the corporals were all
“acting sergeants.” They were so acting in the absence of
the de facto sergeants. These corporals got the idea into
their heads that to retain their appointments they had to
do a certain amount of “skinning,” and often “skins” were more fancied than real. This was a rather sad condition of affairs.
Plebes would find their demerits accumulating and
become disheartened. It was all due to this unnecessary
rigor, and “being military,” which some of the yearling
corporals affected. No one bears, or rather did bear, such
a reputation as the yearling corporal. As such he was
disliked by everybody, and plebes have frequently fought
them for their unmanly treatment. This, however, was. It
is no more. We have no yearling corporals, and plebes
fare better generally than ever before. Not because all
yearling corporals thus subserved their ambition by
reporting men for little things that might as well have
been overlooked, did they get this bad reputation, but
rather because with it they coupled the severest hazing,
and sometimes even insults. That was unmanly as well as
mean. Hazing could be endured, but not always insults.

Whether for this reason or not I cannot say, the
authorities now appoint the corporals from the second
class, men who are more dignified and courteous in their
conduct toward all, and especially toward plebes. The
advantages of this system are evident.

One scarcely appreciates cadet life—if such
appreciation is possible—till he becomes a yearling. It is
not till in yearling camp that a cadet begins to “spoon.”
Not till then is he permitted to attend the hops, and of
course he has but little opportunity to cultivate female
society, nor is he expected to do so till then, for to assume
any familiarity with the upper classes would be
considered rather in advance of his “plebeship's” rights.
How then can he—he is little more than a stranger—become
acquainted with the fair ones who either dwell at or are visiting
West Point. Indeed, knowing “femmes” are quite as
prone to haze as the cadets, and most unmercifully cut
the unfortunate plebe. Some are also so very haughty:
they will admit only first-classmen to their acquaintance
and favor.

But Mr. Plebe, having become a yearling finds that
the “Mr.” is dropped, and that he is allowed all necessary
familiarity. He then begins to enjoy his cadetship, a
position which for pleasure and happiness has untold
advantages, for what woman can resist those glorious
buttons? A yearling has another advantage. The furlough
class is absent, and the plebes—well, they are “plebes.”
Sufficient, isn't it? The spooneying must all be done, then,
by the first and third classes. Often a great number of the
first class are bachelors, or not inclined to be spooney;
and that duty then of course devolves on the more gallant
part of that class and the yearlings.

The hop managers of the third class have been
mentioned elsewhere. They enjoy peculiar facilities for
pleasure, and, where a good selection has been made, do
much to dispel the monotony of academic military life.
Indeed, they do very much toward inducing others to
cultivate a high sense of gallantry and respect for
women. The refining influence of female society has
greater play, and its good results are inevitable.

But what a wretched existence was mine when all
this was denied me! One would be unwilling to believe I
had not, from October, 1875, till May, 1876, spoken to a
female of any age, and yet it was so. There was no
society for me to enjoy—no friends, male or female, for
me to visit, or with whom I could
have any social intercourse, so absolute was my
isolation.* Indeed, I had friends who often visited me, but
they did so only when the weather was favorable.
In the winter season, when nature, usually so attractive,
presented nothing to amuse or dispel one's gloom, and
when, therefore, something or some one
suited for that purpose was so desirable, no one of course
visited me. But I will not murmur. I suppose this was but
another constituent of that mechanical mixture of ills and
anxieties and suspense that characterized my cadet life.
At any rate I can console myself in my victory over
prejudice, whether that victory be admitted or not. I know
I have so lived that they could find in me no fault different
from those at least common to themselves, and have thus
forced upon their consciences a just and merited
recognition whether or not they are disposed to follow
conscience and openly accept my claim to their brotherly
love.

* I could and did have a pleasant chat every day, more or less, with
“Bentz the bugler,” the tailor, barber, commissary clerk, the policeman who scrubbed out my room and brought around the mail, the treasurer's
clerk, cadets occasionally, and others. The statement made in some of
the newspapers, that from one year's end to another I never heard
the sound of my own voice, except in the recitation room, is thus seen
to be untrue.
CHAPTER VIII.
FIRST-CLASS CAMP.

IT is a common saying among cadets that “first-class
camp is just like furlough.” I rather think the assertion is
an inheritance from former days and the cadets of those
days, for the similarity at present between first-class
camp and furlough is beyond our conception. There is
none, or if any it is chimerical, depending entirely on
circumstances. In the case of a small class it would be
greater than in that of a large one. For instance, in “train
drill” a certain number of men are required. No more are
necessary. It would be inexpedient to employ a whole
class when the class had more men in it than were
required for the drill. In such cases the supernumeraries
are instructed in something else, and alternate with those
who attend train drill. In the case of a small class all
attend the same drill daily, and that other duty or drill is
reserved for autumn. Thus there is less drill in camp, and
it becomes more like furlough when there is none at all.

Again, first-classmen enjoy more privileges than
others, and for this reason their camp is more like
furlough. If, however, there are numerous drills, the
analogy will fail; for how can duty, drills, etc., coexist with
privileges such as first-class privileges?
Time which otherwise would be devoted to enjoyment of
privileges is now consumed in drills. Still there is much in it
which makes first-class camp the most delightful part of a
cadet's life. There are more privileges, the duties are
lighter and more attractive, and make it withal more
enjoyable. First, members of the class attend drill both as
assistants and as students. They are detailed as chiefs of
platoon, chiefs of section, chiefs of caissons, and as
guidons at the light battery; as chiefs of pieces at the
several foot batteries; attend themselves at the siege or
sea-coast batteries, train drill, pontoon drill, engineering,
ordnance, and astronomy, and they are also detailed as
officers of the guard. These duties are generally not very
difficult nor unpleasant to discharge. Second, from the
nature of the privileges allowed first-classmen, they have
more opportunity for pleasure than other cadets, and
therefore avoid the rather serious consequences of their
monotonous academic military life. A solitary monotonous
life is rather apt to engender a dislike for mankind, and no
high sense of honor or respect for women. I deem these
privileges of especial importance, as they enable one to
avoid that danger and to cultivate the highest possible
regard for women, and those virtues and other Christian
attributes of which they are the better exponents. A
soldier is particularly liable to fall into this sanssouci way
of looking at life, and those to whom its pleasures, as well
as its ills, are largely due. We are indebted to our fellows
for every thing which affects our life as regards its
happiness or unhappiness,
and this latter misfortune will rarely be ours if we
properly appreciate our friends and those who can and
will make life less wretched. To shut one's self up in
one's self is merely to trust, or rather to set up, one's own
judgment as superior to the world's. That cannot be, nor
can there be happiness in such false views of our
organization as being of and for each other.

At this point of the course many of the first-class
have attained their majority. They are men, and in one
year more will be officers of the army. It becomes them,
therefore, to lay aside the ordinary student's rôle, and
assume a more dignified one, one more in conformity with
their age and position. They leave all cadet rôles, etc., to
the younger classes, and put on the proper dignity of men.

There are for them more privileges. They are more
independent—more like men; and consequently they find
another kind of enjoyment in camp than that of the cadet.
It is a general, a proper, a rational sort of pleasure such
as one would enjoy at home among relatives or friends,
and hence the similarity between first-class camp and
furlough.

But it is not thus with all first-classmen. Many, indeed
the majority, are cadets till they graduate. They see every
thing as a cadet, enjoy every thing as a cadet, and find
the duties, etc., of first-class camp as irksome as those of
plebe or yearling camp. Of course such men see no
similarity between first-class camp and furlough. It is
their misfortune. We should enjoy as many things as we
can, and not sorrow over them. We should not make our
life one of sorrow when it could as well be one of comfort and
pleasure. I don't mean comfort and pleasure in an
epicurean sense, but in a moral one. Still first-classmen
do have many duties to perform, but there is withal one
consolation at least, there are no upper classmen to keep
the plebe or yearling in his place. There is no feeling of
humbleness because of junior rank, for the first class is
the first in rank, and therefore need humble itself to none
other than the proper authorities.

Again, their honor, as “cadets and gentlemen,” is relied
upon as surety for obedience and regard for regulations.
They are not subject to constant watching as plebes are.
The rigor of discipline is not so severe upon them as upon
others. It was expended upon them during their earlier
years at the Academy, and, as a natural consequence,
any violation of regulations, etc., by a first-classman,
merits and receives a severer punishment than would be
visited upon a junior classman for a like infringement on
his part.

The duties of first-classmen in first-class camp are as
follows: The officer of the day and two officers of the
guard are detailed each day from the class. Their duties
are precisely those of similar officers in the regular army.
The junior officer of the guard daily reports to the
observatory to find the error of the tower clock. Also
each day are detailed the necessary assistants for the
several light batteries, who are on foot or mounted, as the
case may require. The remainder of the class receive
instructions in the service of the siege and sea-coast
artillery. These drills come in the early forenoon. After
them come ordnance and engineering.

The entire class is divided as equally as may be into
two parts, which alternate in attendance at ordnance and
engineering.

In ordnance the instructions are on the preparation of
military fireworks, fixing of ammunition and packing it, the
battery wagon and forge. This instruction is thoroughly
practical. The cadets make the cases for rockets, paper
shells, etc., and fill them, leaving them ready for
immediate use. The stands of fixed ammunition prepared
are the grape and canister, and shell and shot, with their
sabots.

The battery wagon and forge are packed as prescribed in the
“Ordnance Manual.”

The instructions in engineering are also practical and
military. They are in the modes of throwing and
dismantling pontoon bridges, construction of fascines,
gabions, hurdles, etc., and revetting batteries with them.
Sometimes also during camp, more often after, foot
reconnoissances are made. A morning and night detail is
made daily from the class to receive practical instruction
in astronomy in the field observatory.

Night signalling with torches, and telegraphy by day,
form other sources of instruction for the first class.

Telegraphy, or train drill, as the drill is called, consists
in erecting the telegraph line and opening communication
between two stations, and when this is done, in
communicating so as to acquire a practical knowledge of
the instruments and their use.

These various drills—all of them occurring daily,
Sunday of course excepted, and for part of them
Saturday also—complete the course of instruction
given the first class only during their first-class camp. It
will be observed that they all of them are of a military
nature and of the greatest importance. The instruction is
thorough accordingly.

I have sufficiently described, I think, a cadet's first-class
camp. I shall, therefore, close the chapter here.

CHAPTER IX.
OUR FUTURE HEROES.
THE WEST POINT CADETS' VACATION.

Ten Days of Centennial Sport for Prospective Warriors—The Miseries
of three hundred Young Gentlemen who are limited to Ten Pairs
of White Trousers each.

“ALMOST at the foot of George's Hill, and not far to the westward
of Machinery Hall, is the camp of the West Point cadets. From
morning till night the domestic economy of the three hundred young
gentlemen who compose the corps is closely watched, and their guard
mountings and dress parades attract throngs of spectators. It would be
hard to find anywhere a body of young men so manly in appearance, so
perfect in discipline, and so soldier-like and intelligent. The system of
competitive examination for admission, so largely adopted within the
past few years in many of our large cities, has resulted in recruiting the
corps with lads of bright intellect and more than ordinary attainments,
while the strict physical examination has rigorously excluded all but
those of good form and perfect health. The competitive system has also
given to the Academy students who want to learn, instead of lads who
are content to scramble through the prescribed course as best they can,
escaping the disgrace of being “found” (a cadet term equivalent to the
old college word “plucked”) by nearly a hair's-breadth.

“The camp.—The camp is laid out in regulation style, and has four
company streets. Near the western limit of the Centennial grounds are
the tents of the commandant and the cadet captains and lieutenants.
Below, on a gentle incline, are the wall tents, occupied by the cadets.
Each of these has a board floor, and it is so arranged that when desired it
may be thrown open on all sides. From two to four narrow iron cots, a
bucket for water, an occasional chair, and now and then a mirror,
comprise the furniture. But scanty as it is, every article of this little
outfit has a place, and must be kept in it, or woe to the unlucky wight
upon whom the duty of housekeeping devolves for the day. The bucket
must stand on the left-hand side of the
tent, in front; the beds must be made at a certain hour and in a certain
style—for the coming heroes of America have to be their own
chambermaids; while valises and other baggage must be stowed away in as
orderly a way as possible. Every morning the tents are inspected, and any
lack of neatness or order insures for the chambermaid of the day a
misconduct mark. It may be easily conceived that under a regime so
strict as this the cadets are particularly careful as to their quarters,
inasmuch as one hundred of these marks mean dismissal from the
Academy.

“At daybreak the reveille sounds, and the cadets turn out for roll-call.
Then come breakfast, guard mounting, and camp and general police duty,
which consume the time until 8.30 A.M., from which hour those who are
not on guard have the freedom of the Centennial grounds. At 5 P.M. they
must fall in for dress parade; at 9 they answer to ‘tattoo’ roll-call, and a
few minutes later ‘taps’ or ‘lights out’ consigns them to darkness and
quiet.

“West Point Aristocracy.—Small as is this corps, it is still patent that
the distinction of caste is very strong. A first-classman—cadet officers
are selected from this class—looks down upon lower grade men, while
second-class cadets view their juniors with something nearly allied to contempt, and third-class men are amusingly patronizing
in their treatment of ‘plebes’ or new-comers. For the first year of their
Academy life the ‘plebes’ have rather a hard time of it;
but no sooner do they emerge from their chrysalis state than they are as
hard upon their unfortunate successors as the third-class men of the year
before were upon them.

“The cadets are delighted with their reception and kind treatment in
Philadelphia, and look upon their ten days' visit to the Centennial as a
most pleasant break in the monotony of Academy life. That they
maintain the reputation of the Academy for gallantry and devotion to
the fair sex is evidenced by the presence of numbers of beautiful young
ladies in their camp after dress parade every evening. Given, a pretty
girl, the twilight of a summer evening, and a youth in uniform, and the
result is easily guessed.

“The Cadet Corps is to return to West Point to-morrow morning.
There the cadets are to go into camp until September. General Sherman
at one time purposed to have them march from this city to the
Academy, but it was finally decided that the march would consume time
which might be more profitably devoted to drill.

“One of the complaints of the cadets is that in the arrangements for
their visit, the Quartermaster's Department was stricken with a
spasm of economy as regarded transportation, and each of the future
heroes was limited to the miserably insufficient allowance of ten pairs of
white trousers.

“The cadets speak in warmly eulogistic terms of the Seventh New
York, to whose kindly attentions, they say, much of their pleasure is
due.”

Of this article, which was taken from the Philadelphia
Times, I need only say, those “two or four narrow iron
cots” and that “ occasional chair” existed solely in the
imagination of the reporter, as they were nowhere
visible within the limits of our encampment.

CHAPTER X.
TREATMENT.
A brave and honorable and courteous manWill not insult me; and none other can.”—Cowper.

“How do they treat you?” “How do you get
along?” and multitudes of analogous questions have
been asked me over and over again. Many have asked
them for mere curiosity's sake, and to all such my
answers have been as short and abrupt as was consistent
with common politeness. I have observed that it is this
class of people who start rumors, sometimes harmless,
but more often the cause of needless trouble and ill-feeling.
I have considered such a class dangerous, and
have therefore avoided them as much as it was possible.
I will mention a single instance where such danger has
been made manifest.

A Democratic newspaper, published I know not
where, in summing up the faults of the Republican party,
took occasion to advert to West Point. It asserted in bold
characters that I had stolen a number of articles from
two cadets, had by them been detected in the very act,
had been seen by several other cadets who had been
summoned for the purpose that they might testify against
me, had been
reported to the proper authorities, the affair had been
thoroughly investigated by them, my guilt established
beyond the possibility of doubt, and yet my accusers had
actually been dismissed while I was retained.* This is
cited as an example of Republican rule; and the writer
had the effrontery to ask, “How long shall such things be?”
I did not reply to it then, nor do I intend to do so now. Such
assertions from such sources need no replies. I
merely mention the incident to show how wholly
given to party prejudices some men can be. They
seem to have no thought of right and justice, but
favor whatever promotes the aims and interests of
their own party, a party not Democratic but hellish.
How different is the following article from the
Philadelphia North American, of July 7th, 1876:

* This article was cut from a newspaper, and, together with the name
of the paper, was posted in a conspicuous place, where other cadets, as
well as myself, saw and read it.

“It is very little to the credit of the West Point cadets, a body of
young men in whose superior discipline and thoroughly excellent
deportment we feel in common with nearly all others a gratified pride,
that they should be so ungenerous and unjust as they confess themselves
to be in their treatment of the colored boy, who, like themselves, has
been made a ward of the nation. We know nothing of this young man's
personal character or habits, but we have seen no unkind criticism of
them. For that reason we condemn as beneath contempt the spirit which
drives him to an isolation, in bearing which the black shows himself the
superior of the white. We do not ask nor do we care to encourage any
thing more than decent courtesy. But the young gentlemen who boast of
holding only official intercourse with their comrade should remember
that no one of them stands before the country in any different light
from him. West Point is an academy for the training of young men,
presumably representative of the people, for a career sufficiently
honorable to
gratify any ambition. The cadets come from all parts of the country,
from all ranks of the social scale. Amalgamated by the uniform course of
studies and the similarity of discipline, the separating fragments at the
end of the student life carry similar qualities into the life before them,
and step with almost remarkable social equality into the world where
they must find their level. It would be expecting too much to hope that
the companionship which surmounts or breaks down all the barriers of
caste, should tread with equal heel the prejudices of color. But it would be
more manly in these boys, if they would remember how easy ordinary
courtesy would be to them, how much it would lighten the life of a young
man whose rights are equal to their own. It is useless to ignore the
inevitable. This colored boy has his place; he should have fair,
encouragement to hold it. Heaping neglect upon him does not overcome
the principle involved in his appointment, and while we by no means
approve of such appointments we do believe in common justice.”

On the other hand, many have desired this information for a
practical use, and that, too, whether they were prejudiced or
not. That is, if friends, they were anxious to know how I fared,
whether or not I was to be a success, and if a success to use
that fact in the interest of the people; and if enemies, they
wanted naturally to know the same things in order to use the
knowledge to the injury of the people if I proved a failure.

I have not always been able to distinguish one class from
the other, and have therefore been quite reticent about my life
and treatment at West Point. I have, too, avoided the
newspapers as much as possible. I succeeded in this so well
that it was scarcely known that I was at the Academy. Much
surprise was manifested when I appeared in Philadelphia at the
Centennial. One gentleman said to me in the Government
building: “You are quite an exhibition yourself. No one was
expecting to see a colored cadet.”

But I wander from my theme. It is a remarkable fact
that the new cadets, in only a very few instances, show
any unwillingness to speak or fraternize. It is not till they
come in contact with the rougher elements of the corps
that they manifest any disposition to avoid one. It was so
in my own class, and has been so in all succeeding
classes.

When I was a plebe those of us who lived on the
same floor of barracks visited each other, borrowed
books, heard each other recite when preparing for
examination, and were really on most intimate terms. But
alas! in less than a month they learned to call me “nigger,”
and ceased altogether to visit me. We did the Point
together, shared with each other whatever we purchased
at the sulter's, and knew not what prejudice was. Alas!
we were soon to be informed! In camp, brought into close
contact with the old cadets, these once friends discovered
that they were prejudiced, and learned to abhor even the
presence or sight of a “d—d nigger.”

Just two years after my entrance into the Academy, I
met in New York a young man who was a plebe at the
time I was, and who then associated with me. He
recognized me, hurried to me from across the street,
shook my hand heartily, and expressed great delight at
seeing me. He showed me the photograph of a classmate,
told me where I could find him, evidently ignorant of my
ostracism, and, wishing me all sorts of success, took his
leave. After he left me I involuntarily asked myself,
“Would it have been thus if he had not been ‘found on his
prelim?’ ” Possibly not, but it is very, very doubtful.

There are some, indeed the majority of the corps are
such, who treat me on all occasions with proper
politeness. They are gentlemen themselves, and treat
others as it becomes gentlemen to do. They do not
associate, nor do they speak other than officially, except
in a few cases. They are perhaps as much prejudiced as
the others, but prejudice does not prevent all from being
gentlemen. On the other hand, there are some from the
very lowest classes of our population. They are uncouth
and rough in appearance, have only a rudimentary
education, have little or no idea of courtesy, use the very
worst language, and in most cases are much inferior to
the average negro. What can be expected of such
people? They are low, and their conduct must be in
keeping with their breeding. I am not at all surprised to
find it so. Indeed, in ordinary civil life I should consider
such people beneath me in the social scale, should even
reckon some of them as roughs, and consequently give
them a wide berth.

What surprises me most is the control this class
seems to have over the other. It is in this class I have
observed most prejudice, and from it, or rather by it, the
other becomes tainted. It seems to rule the corps by fear.
Indeed, I know there are many who would associate, who
would treat me as a brother cadet, were they not held in
constant dread of this class. The bullies, the fighting men
of the corps are in it. It rules by fear, and whoever
disobeys its beck is “cut.” The rest of the corps follows
like so many menials subject to command. In short, there
is a fearful lack of backbone. There is,
it seems at first sight, more prejudice at West Point than
elsewhere. It is not really so I think.

The officers of the institution have never, so far as I
can say, shown any prejudice at all. They have treated
me with uniform courtesy and impartiality. The cadets,
at least some of them, away from West Point, have also
treated me with such gentlemanly propriety. The want of
backbone predominates to such an alarming extent at
West Point they are afraid to do so there. I will mention
a few cases under this subject of treatment.

During my first-class camp I was rather surprised on
one occasion to have a plebe—we had been to the
Centennial Exhibition and returned, and of course my
status must have been known to him—come to my tent to
borrow ink of me. I readily complied with his request,
feeling proud of what I thought was the beginning of a
new era in my cadet life. I felt he would surely prove
himself manly enough, after thus recognizing me, to keep
it up, and thus bring others under his influence to the
same cause. And I was still further assured in this when I
observed he made his visits frequent and open. At length,
sure of my willingness to oblige him, he came to me, and,
after expressing a desire to “bone up” a part of the
fourth-class course, and the need he felt for such “boning,”
begged me to lend him my algebra. I of course
readily consented, gave him my key, and sent him to my
trunk in the trunk rooms to get it. He went. He got it, and
returned the key. He went into ecstasies, and made no
end of thanks to me for my kindness, etc. All this
naturally confirmed my opinion and hope of better
recognition ultimately. Indeed, I was glad of an
opportunity to prove that I was not unkind or ungenerous.
I supposed he would keep the book till about September,
at which time he would get one of his own, as every
cadet at that time was required to procure a full course of
text-books, these being necessary for reference, etc., in
future life. And so he did. Some time after borrowing the
book, he came to me and asked for India ink. I handed
him a stick, or rather part of one, and received as usual
his many thanks. Several days after this, and at night,
during my absence—I was, if I remember aright, at Fort
Clinton making a series of observations with a zenith
telescope in the observatory there—he came to the rear of
my tent, raised the wall near one corner, and placed
the ink on the floor, just inside the wall, which he left
down as he found it.

I found the ink there when I returned. I was utterly
disgusted with the man. The low, unmanly way in which
he acted was wholly without my approval. If he was
disposed to be friendly, why be cowardly about it? If he
must recognize me secretly, why, I would rather not have
such recognition. Acting a lie to his fellow-cadets by
appearing to be inimical to me and my interests, while he
pretended the reverse to me, proved him to have a
baseness of character with which I didn't care to identify
myself.

September came at last, and my algebra was
returned. The book was the one I had used my first year
at the Academy. I had preserved it, as I have all of my
books, for future use and as a sort of souvenir of my
cadet life. It was for that sole reason of great value to
me. I enjoined upon him to take
care of the book, and in nowise to injure it. My name
was on the back, on the cover, and my initial, “F,” in
two other places on the cover. When the book was
returned he had cut the calfskin from the cover, so as to
remove my name. The result was a horrible disfiguration
of the book, and a serious impairment of its durability.
The mere sight of the book angered me, and I found it
difficult to retrain from manifesting as much. He
undoubtedly did it to conceal the fact that the book was
borrowed from me. Such unmanliness, such cowardice,
such baseness even, was most disgusting; and I felt very
much as if I would like to—well, I don' t know that I would.
There was no reason at all for mutilating the book. If he
was not man enough to use it with my name on it, why
did he borrow it and agree not to injure it? On that sole
condition I lent it. Why did he not borrow some one else's
and return mine?

I have been asked, “What is the general feeling of the
corps towards you? Is it a kindly one, or is it an unfriendly
one. Do they purposely ill-treat you or do they avoid you
merely?” I have found it rather difficult to answer
unqualifiedly such questions; and yet I believe, and have
always believed, that the general feeling of the corps
towards me was a kindly one. This has been manifested
in multitudes of ways, on innumerably occasions, and
under the most various circumstances. And while there
are some who treat me at times in an unbecoming
manner, the majority of the corps have ever treated me
as I would desire to be treated. I mean, of course, by this
assertion that they have treated me as I expected and
really desired them to treat me,
so long as they were prejudiced. They have held certain
opinions more or less prejudicial to me and my interests, but so
long as they have not exercised their theories to my displeasure
or discomfort, or so long as they have “let me severely alone,”
I had no just reason for complaint. Again, others, who have no
theory of their own, and almost no manliness, have been
accustomed “to pick quarrels,” or to endeavor to do so, to
satisfy I don't know what; and while they have had no real
opinions of their own, they have not respected those of others.
Their feeling toward me has been any thing but one of justice,
and yet at times even they have shown a remarkable tendency
to recognize me as having certain rights entitled to their
respect, if not their appreciation.

As I have been practically isolated from the cadets, I have
had little or no intercourse with them. I have therefore had but
little chance to know what was really the feeling of the corps as
a unit toward myself. Judging, however, from such evidences as
I have, I am forced to conclude that it is as given above, viz., a
feeling of kindness, restrained kindness if you please.

Here are some of the evidences which have come under my
notice.

I once heard a cadet make the following unchristian remark
about myself when a classmate had been accidentally hurt at
light-battery drill: “I wish it had been the nigger, and it had
killed him.” I couldn't help looking at him, and I did; but that,
and nothing more. Some time after this, at cavalry drill, we were
side by side, and I had a rather vicious horse,
one in fact which I could not manage. He gave a sudden jump
unexpectedly to me. I almost lost my seat in the saddle. This
cadet seized me by the arm, and in a tone of voice that was
evidently kind and generous, said to me, “For heaven's sake
be careful. You'll be thrown and get hurt if you don't.” How
different from that other wish given above!

Another evidence, and an important one, may be given in
these words. It is customary for the senior, or, as we say, the
first class, to choose, each member, a horse, and ride him
exclusively during the term. The choice is usually made by lot,
and each man chooses according to the number he draws. By
remarkable good fortune I drew No. 1, and had therefore the
first choice of all the horses in the stables.

As soon as the numbers drawn were published, several
classmates hastened to me for the purpose of effecting an
exchange of choice. It will at once be seen that any such
change would in no manner benefit me, for if I lost the first
choice I might also lose the chance of selecting a good horse.
With the avowed intention of proving that I had at least a
generous disposition, and also that I was not disposed to
consider, in my reciprocal relations with the cadets, how I had
been, and was even then treated by them, I consented to
exchange my first choice for the fourteenth.

This agreement was made with the first that asked for an
exchange. Several others came, and, when informed of the
previous agreement, of course went their way. A day or two
after this a number of cadets were discussing the choice of
horses, etc., and reverted to the exchange which I had made.
One of
them suggested that if an exchange of a choice higher
than fourteen were suggested to me, I might accept it.

What an idea, he must have had of my character to
suppose me base enough to disregard an agreement I had already made!

However, all in the crowd were not as base as he
was, and one of them was man enough to say:

“Oh no! that would be imposing upon Mr. Flipper's
good nature.” He went on to show how
ungentlemanly and unbecoming in a “cadet and
gentleman” such an act would be. The idea was
abandoned, or at least was never broached to me, and if it
had been I would never have entertained it. Such an act
on the part of the cadet could have arisen only from a
high sense of manly honor or from a feeling of kindness.

There are multitudes of little acts of kindness similar
to these, and even different ones. I need not—indeed as I
do not remember them all I cannot—mention them all.
They all show, however, that the cadets are not avowedly
inclined to ill-treat me, but rather to assist me to make my
life under the circumstances as pleasant as can be. And
there may be outside influences, such as relatives or
friends, which bias their own better judgments and keep
them from fully and openly recognizing me. For however
hard either way may be, it is far easier to do as friends
wish than as conscience may dictate, when conscience
and friends differ. Under such conditions it would
manifestly be unjust for me to expect recognition of them,
even though they themselves were disposed to make it. I
am sure this is
at least a Christian view of the case, and with such view
I have ever kept aloof from the cadets. I have not
obtruded myself upon them, nor in any way attempted to
force recognition from them. This has proved itself to be
by far the better way, and I don't think it could well be
otherwise.

The one principle which has controlled my conduct
while a cadet, and which is apparent throughout my
narrative, is briefly this: to find, if possible, for every
insult or other offence a reason or motive which is
consistent with the character of a gentleman. Whenever I
have been insulted, or any thing has been done or said to
me which might have that construction, I have
endeavored to find some excuse, some reason for it,
which was not founded on prejudice or on baseness of
character or any other ungentlemanly attribute; or, in
other words, I wanted to prove that it was not done
because of my color. If I could find such a reason—and I
have found them—I have been disposed not only to
overlook the offence, but to forgive and forget it. Thus
there are many cadets who would associate, etc., were
they not restrained by the force of opinion of relatives and
friends. This cringing dependence, this vassalage, this
mesmerism we may call it, we all know exists. Why,
many a cadet has openly confessed to me that he did not
recognize us because he was afraid of being “cut.”

Again, I find some too high-toned, too punctilious, to
recognize me. I attribute this not to the loftiness of their
highnesses nor to prejudice, but to the depth of their
ignorance, and of course I forgive and forget. Others
again are so “reckless,” so
“don't care” disposed, that they treat me as fancy
dictates, now friendly, now vacillating, and now inimical.
With these I simply do as the Romans do. If they are
friendly, so am I; if they scorn me, I do not obtrude
myself upon them; if they are indifferent, I am indifferent
too.

There is a rather remarkable case under this subject
which has caused me no little surprise and
disappointment. I refer to those cadets appointed by
colored members of Congress.

It was quite natural to expect of them better treatment
than of others, and yet if in any thing at all they differed
from the former, they were the more reserved and
discourteous. They most “severely let me alone.” They
never associated, nor did they speak, except officially,
and then they always spoke in a haughty and insolent
manner that was to me most exasperating. And in one
case in particular was this so. One of those so appointed
was the son of the colored Congressman who sent him
there, and from him at least good treatment was
reasonably expected. There have been only two such
appointments to my knowledge, and it is a singular fact
that they were both overbearing, conceited, and by no
means popular with their comrades. The status of one
was but little better than my own, and only in that his
comrades would speak and associate. He was not “cut,”
but avoided as much as possible without making the
offence too patent.

There was a cadet in the corps with myself who
invariably dropped his head whenever our eyes met. His
complexion was any thing but white, his features were
rough and homely, and his person almost entirely
without symmetry or beauty. From this singular
circumstance and his physique, I draw the conclusion that
he was more African than Anglo-Saxon.
Indeed, I once heard as much insinuated by
a fellow-cadet, to whom his reply was:
“It's an honor to be black.”

Near the close of this chapter I have occason to
speak of fear. There I mean by fear a sort of shrinking
demeanor or disposition to accept insults and other
petty persecutions as just dues, or to leave them
unpunished from actual cowardice, to which fear some
have been pleased to attribute my generally good
treatment. This latter fact has been by many, to my
personal knowledge, attributed to fear in another quarter,
viz., in the cadets themselves. It has many times been
said to me by persons at West Point and elsewhere: “I
don't suppose many of those fellows would care to
encounter you?”

This idea was doubtless founded upon my physical
proportions—I am six feet one and three-quarter inches
high, and weigh one hundred and seventy-five pounds. In
behalf of the corps of cadets I would disclaim any such
notions of fear,

First. Because the conception of the idea is not
logical. I was not the tallest, nor yet the largest man in the
corps, nor even did I give any evidence of a disposition to
fight or bully others.

Second. Because I did not come to West Point
purposely to “go through on my muscle.” I am
not a fighting character, as the cadets—those who
know me—can well testify.

Third. Because it is ungenerous to attribute
what can result from man's better nature only to such
base causes as fear or cowardice. This seems to be
about the only way in which many have endeavored to
explain the difference between my life at West Point and
that of other colored cadets. They seem to think that my
physique inspired a sort of fear in the cadets, and forced
them at least to let me alone, while the former ones,
smaller in size, did therefore create no such fear until by
persistent retaliation it was shown they were able to
defend themselves.

Now this, I think, is the most shallow of all reasoning
and entirely unworthy our further notice.

Fourth. I should be grieved to suppose any one
feared me. It is not my desire to go through life feared
by any one. I can derive no pleasure from any thing
which is accorded me through motives of fear. The grant
must be spontaneous and voluntary to give me the most
pleasure. I want nothing, not even recognition, unless it
be freely given, hence have I not forced myself upon my
comrades.

“But the sensible Flipper accepted the situation, and
proudly refused to intrude himself on the white boys.”—
Atlanta (Ga.) Herald.

Fifth. Because it is incompatible with the dignity of a
“cadet and a gentleman” for one to fear another.

Sixth. Because it is positively absurd to suppose that
one man of three hundred more or less would be feared
by the rest individually and collectively, and no rational
being would for an instant entertain any such idea. There
is, however, a single case which may imply fear on the
part of the
cadet most concerned. A number of plebes, among them a
colored one, were standing on the stoop of barracks. There
were also several cadets standing in the doorway, and a
sentinel was posted in the hall. This latter individual went up to
one of the cadets and said to him, “Make that nigger out there
get his hands around,” referring to this plebe mentioned above.

I happened to come down stairs just at that time, and as
soon as he uttered those words he turned and saw me. He
hung his head, and in a cowardly manner sneaked off, while the
cadets in the door also dispersed with lowered heads. Was it
fear? Verily I know not. Possibly it was shame.

Again I recall a rather peculiar circumstance which will
perhaps sustain this notion of fear on the part of the cadets. I
have on every occasion when I had command over my
fellow-cadets in any degree, noticed that they were generally
more orderly and more obedient than when this authority was
exercised by another.

Thus whenever I commanded the guard there were very few
reports for offences committed by members of the guard. They
have ever been obedient and military. In camp, when I was first
in command of the guard, I had a most orderly guard and a very
pleasant tour, and that too, observe, while some of the
members of it were plebes and on for the first time. On all such
occasions it is an immemorial custom for the yearlings to
interfere with and haze the plebe sentinels. Not a sentinel was
disturbed, not a thing went amiss, and why? Manifestly
because it was thought—and rightly too—that I would
not connive at such interference, and because they
feared to attempt it lest they be watched and reported.
Later, however, even this semblance of fear disappeared,
and they acted under me precisely as they do under
others, because they are convinced that I will not stoop to
spy or retaliate.

“The boys were rather afraid that when he should
come to hold the position as officer of the guard that he
would swagger over them; but he showed good sense
and taste, merely assuming the rank formally and leaving
his junior to carry out the duty.”—New York Herald.

And just here it is worthy of notice that the press, in
commenting upon my chances of graduating, has never,
so far as I know, entertained any doubts of my ability to
do so. It has, on the contrary, expressed the belief that
the probability of my graduating depended upon the
officers of the Academy, and upon any others who, by
influence or otherwise, were connected with the
Academy. Some have even hinted at politics as a
possible ground upon which they might drop me.

All such opinions have been created and nurtured by
the hostile portion of the press, and, I regret to say, by
that part also which ought to have been more friendly, if
not more discreet. No branch of the government is freer
from the influences and whims of politicians than the
National Military Academy. Scarcely any paper has
considered how the chances of any cadet depended
upon himself alone. The authorities of the Academy
are, or have been, officers of the army. They are, with
one or two exceptions, graduates, and therefore, presumably,
“officers and gentlemen.” To transform young men
into a like ilk as themselves is their duty. The country
intrusts them with this great responsibility. To prove
faithless to such a charge would be to risk position, and
even those dearer attributes of the soldier, honor and
reputation. They would not dare ill-treat a colored cadet
or a white one. Of course the prejudice of race is not yet
overcome entirely, and possibly they may be led into
some indiscretion on account of it; but I do not think it
would be different at any other college in the country. It
is natural.

There are prejudices of caste as well as prejudices of
race, and I am most unwilling to believe it possible that
any officer would treat with injustice a colored cadet who
in true gentlemanly qualities, intelligence, and
assiduousness equals or excels certain white ones who
are treated with perfect equanimity. With me it has not
been so. I have been treated as I would wish to be in the
majority of cases. There have been of course occasions
where I've fancied wrong had been done me. I expected
to be ill-treated. I went to West Point fully convinced that
I'd have “a rough time of it.” Who that has read the many
newspaper versions of the treatment of colored cadets,
and of Smith in particular would not have been so
convinced? When, therefore, any affront or any thing
seemingly of that nature was offered me, I have been
disposed, naturally I think, to unduly magnify it, because I
expected it. This was hasty and unjust, and so I
admit, now that I am better informed. What was
apparently done to incommode or discourage me
has been shown to have been done either for my own
benefit or for some other purpose, not to my harm. In
every single instance I have, after knowing better the
reason for such acts, felt obliged to acknowledge the
injustice of my fears. At other times I have been
agreeably surprised at the kindnesses shown me both by
officers and cadets, and have found myself at great loss
to reconcile them with acts I had already adjudged as
malicious wrongs.

I have, too, been particularly careful not to fall into an
error, which, I think, has been the cause of misfortune to
at least one of the cadets of color. If a cadet affront
another, if a white cadet insult a colored one for
instance, the latter can complain to the proper
authorities, and, if there be good reason for it, can always
get proper redress. This undoubtedly gives the consolation
of knowing that the offence will not be repeated, but
beyond that I think it a great mistake to have so sought it.
A person who constantly complains, even with some
show of reason, loses more or less the respect of the
authorities. And the offenders, while they refrain from
open acts, do nevertheless conduct their petty
persecutions in such a manner that one can shape no
charge against them, and consequently finds himself
helpless. One must endure these little tortures—the sneer,
the shrug of the shoulder, the epithet, the effort to avoid,
to disdain, to ignore—and thus suffer; for any of them
are—to me at least—far more hard to bear than a blow. A
blow I may resist or ignore. In either case I soon forget it.
But a sneer, a shrug of the shoulder, mean more. Either is
a blow at my sensitiveness, my inner feelings, and
which through no ordinary effort of mind can be altogether
forgotten. It is a sting that burns long and fiercely. How much
better to have ignored the greater offences which could be
reached, and to have thus avoided the lesser ones, which
nothing can destroy! How much wiser to stand like a vast front
of fortification, on some rocky moral height absolutely unassailable, passively resisting alike the attack by open assault and the surer one by regular approaches! The assault can be repulsed, but who can, who
has ever successfully stopped the mines and the galleries
through which an entrance is at length forced into the interior?

“We cannot
expect the sons to forget the lessons of the sires; but
we have a right to demand from the general government the rooting out
of all snobbery at West Point, whether it is of that kind which sends
poor white boys to Coventry, because they haven't a family name or
wealth, or whether it be that smallest, meanest, and shallowest of all
aristocracies—the one founded upon color.

“If the government is not able to root out these unrepublican seeds
in these hotbeds of disloyalty and snobbery, let Congress shut up the
useless and expensive appendages and educate its officers at the colleges
of the country, where they may learn lessons in true Republican equality
and nationality. The remedy lies with Congress. A remonstrance, at
least, should be heard from the colored members of Congress, who are
insulted whenever a colored boy is ill-treated by the students or the
officers of these institutions. So far from being discouraged by
defeats, the unjust treatment meted out to the young men should
redouble the efforts of others of their class to conquer this new Bastile
by storm. It should lead every colored Congressman to make sure that he
either sends a colored applicant or a white one who has not the seeds of
snobbery or caste in his soul.”

I shall consider this last clause at the end of this chapter,
where I shall quote at length the article from which this
passage is taken.

If I may be pardoned an opinion on this article, I do
not think the true remedy lies with Congress at all. I do
not question the right to demand of Congress any thing,
but I do doubt the propriety or need of such a proceeding,
of course, in the case under consideration. As to “that
kind which sends poor white boys to Coventry,” because
of their poverty, etc., I can say with absolute truthfulness
it no longer exists. When it did exist the power to
discontinue it did not lie with Congress. Congress
has no control over personal whims or prejudices. But I
make a slight mistake. There was a time when influence,
wealth, or position was able to secure a cadetship. At
that time poor boys very rarely succeeded in getting an
appointment, and when they did they were most
unmercifully “cut” by the snobs of aristocracy who were
at the Academy. Then the remedy did lie with Congress.
The appointments could have been so made as to exclude
those snobs whose only recommendation was their
position in society, and so also as to admit boys who were
deserving, although they were perhaps poor. This remedy
has been made, and all classes (white), whether poor or
rich, influential or not, are on terms of absolute equality.

But for that other kind, “the one founded upon color,”
Congress has no remedy, no more than for fanaticism or
something of that kind.

This article also tells us that “the government has
been remiss in not throwing around them the protection
of its authority.” I disdainfully scout the idea of such
protection. If my manhood cannot stand without a
governmental prop, then let it fall.
If I am to stand on any other ground than the one white
cadets stand upon, then I don't want the cadetship. If I
cannot endure prejudice and persecutions, even if they
are offered, then I don't deserve the cadetship, and much
less the commission of an army officer. But there is a
remedy, a way to root out snobbery and prejudice which
but needs adoption to have the desired effect. Of course
its adoption by a single person, myself for instance, will
not be sufficient to break away all the barriers which
prejudice has brought into existence. I am quite confident,
however, if adopted by all colored cadets, it will
eventually work out the difficult though by no means
insoluble problem, and give us further cause for joy and
congratulations.

The remedy lies solely in our case with us. We can
make our life at West Point what we will. We shall be
treated by the cadets as we treat them. Of course some
of the cadets are low—they belong to the younger classes—
and good treatment cannot be expected of them at West
Point nor away from there. The others, presumably
gentlemen, will treat everybody else as becomes
gentlemen, or at any rate as they themselves are treated.
For, as Josh Billings quaintly tells us, “a gentleman kant
hide hiz true karakter enny more than a loafer kan.”

Prejudice does not necessarily prevent a man's being
courteous and gentlemanly in his relations with others. If,
then, they be prejudiced and treat one with ordinary
civility, or even if they let one “severely alone,” is there
any harm done? Is such a course of conduct to be
denounced? Religiously,
yes; but in the manner of every-day life and its
conventionalities, I say not by any means. I have the
right—no one will deny it—of choosing or rejecting as
companions whomsoever I will. If my choice be based
upon color, am I more wrong in adopting it than I should
be in adopting any other reason? it may be an unchristian
opinion or fancy that causes me to do it, but such opinion
or fancy is my own, and I have a right to it. No one
objects to prejudice as such, but to the treatment it is
supposed to cause. If one is disposed to ill-treat another,
he'll do it, prejudiced or not prejudiced. Only low persons
are so disposed, and happily so for West Point, and
indeed for the whole country.

“The system of competitive examination for
admission, so largely adopted within the past few years in
many of our large cities, has resulted in recruiting the
corps with lads of bright intellect and more than ordinary
attainments, while the strict physical examination has
rigorously excluded all but those of good form and perfect
health. The competitive system has also given to the
Academy students who want to learn, instead of lads who
are content to scramble through the prescribed course
as best they can, escaping being “found” (a cadet term
equivalent to the old college word ‘plucked’) by merely a
hair's-breadth.”

The old way of getting rid of the rough, uncouth
characters was to “find” them. Few, very few of them,
ever got into the army. Now they are excluded by the
system of competitive examination even from entering the
Military Academy, and if
they should succeed in getting to West Point, they
eventually fail, since men with no fixed purpose cannot
graduate at West Point.

Now if the “colored cadets” be not of this class also,
then their life at West Point will not be much harder than
that of the others. The cadets may not associate, but
what of that? Am I to blame a man who prefers not to
associate with me? If that be the only charge against
him, then my verdict is for acquittal. Though his conduct
arises from, to us, false premises, it is to his sincere
convictions right, and we would not in the slightest degree
be justified in forcing him into our way of looking at it. In
other words, the remedy does not lie with Congress.

The kind of treatment we are to receive at the hands
of others depends entirely upon ourselves. I think my life
at West Point sufficiently proves the truth of this
assertion. I entered the Academy at a time when, as one
paper had it, West Point was a “hotbed of disloyalty and
snobbery, a useless and expensive appendage.” I
expected all sorts of ill-treatment, and yet from the day I
entered till the day I graduated I had not cause to utter so
much as an angry word. I refused to obtrude myself upon
the white cadets, and treated them all with uniform
courtesy. I have been treated likewise. It simply
depended on me what sort of treatment I should receive.
I was careful to give no cause for bad treatment, and it
was never put upon me. In making this assertion I
purposely disregard the instances of malice, etc.,
mentioned elsewhere, for the reason that I do not believe
they were due to any deep personal convictions of my
inferiority or personal desire
to impose upon me, but rather were due to the fear of
being “cut” if they had acted otherwise.

Our relations have been such, as any one will readily
observe, that even officially they would have been
obliged to recognize me to a greater or less extent, or at
the expense of their consciences ignore me. They have
done both, as circumstances and not inclination have led
them to do.

A rather unexpected incident occurred in the summer
of '73, which will show perhaps how intense is that
gravitating force—if I may so term it—which so completely
changes the feelings of the plebes, and even cadets, who,
when they reported, were not at all prejudiced on account
of color.

It was rather late at night and extremely dark. I was
on guard and on post at the time. Approaching the lower
end of my post, No. 5, I heard my name called in a low
tone by some one whom I did not recognize. I stopped
and listened. The calling was repeated, and I drew near
the place whence it came. It proved to be a cadet, a
classmate of mine, and then a sentinel on the adjacent
post, No. 4. We stood and talked quite awhile, as there
was no danger either of being seen by other cadets—an
event which those who in any manner have recognized
me have strenuously avoided—or “hived standing on
post.” It was too dark. He expressed great regret at my
treatment, hoped it would be bettered, assured me that he
would ever be a friend and treat me as a gentleman
should.

Another classmate told me, at another time, in effect
the same thing. I very naturally expected a fulfilment of
these promises, but alas! for such
hopes! They not only never fulfilled them, but treated me
even as badly as all the others. One of them was
assigned a seat next to me at table. He would eat
scarcely anything, and when done with that he would
draw his chair away and pretend to be imposed upon in
the most degrading manner possible. The other practised
similar manoeuvres whenever we fell in at any formation
of company or section. They both called me “nigger,” or
“d—d nigger,” as suited their inclination. Yet this ought,
I verily believe, to be attributed not to them, but to the
circumstances that led them to adopt such a course.

On one occasion, however, one of them brought
to my room the integration of some differential equation
in mechanics which had been sent me by our instructor.
He was very friendly then, apparently. He told me upon
leaving, if I desired any further information to come to his
“house,” and he would give it. I observed that he called
me “Mr. Flipper.”

One winter's night, while on guard in barracks during
supper, a cadet of the next class above my own stopped
on my post and conversed with me as long as it was safe
to do so. He expressed—as all have who have spoken to
me—great regret that I should be so isolated, asked how
I got along in my studies, and many other like questions.
He spoke at great length of my general treatment. He
assured me that he was wholly unprejudiced, and would
ever be a friend. He even went far enough to say, to my
great astonishment, that he cursed me and my race
among the cadets to keep up appearances with them,
and that I must think none the less well of him for so
doing. It was a sort of necessity, he said, for he would
not only be “cut,” but would be treated a great deal
worse than I was if he should fraternize with me. Upon
leaving me he said, “I'm d—d sorry to see you come
here to be treated so, but I am glad to see you stay.”

Unfortunately the gentleman failed at the examination,
then not far distant, and of course did not have much
opportunity to give proof of his friendship. And thus,
“The walk, the words, the gesture could supply,The habit mimic and the mien belie.”

When the plebes reported in '76, and were given seats
in the chapel, three of them were placed in the pew with
myself. We took seats in the following order, viz., first the
commandant of the pew, a sergeant and a classmate of
mine, then a third-classman, myself, and the plebes.
Now this arrangement was wholly unsatisfactory to the
third-classman, who turned to the sergeant and asked of
him to place a plebe between him and myself. The
sergeant turned toward me, and with an angry gesture
ordered me to “Get over there.” I refused, on the ground
that the seat I occupied had been assigned me, and I
therefore had no authority to change it. Near the end of
the service the third-classman asked the sergeant to tell
me to sit at the further end of the seat. He did so. I
refused on the same ground as before. He replied, “Well,
it don't make any difference. I'll see that your seat is
changed.” I feared he would go to the cadet
quartermaster, who had
charge of the arrangement of seats, and have my seat
changed without authority. I reported to the officer in
charge of the new cadets, and explained the whole affair
to him.

“You take the seat,” said he, “assigned you in the guard
house”—the plan of the church, with names written on the
pews, was kept here, so that cadets could consult it and
know where their seats were—“and if anybody wants
you to change it tell them I ordered you to keep it.”

The next Sabbath I took it. I was ordered to change it.
I refused on the authority just given above. The sergeant
then went to the commandant of cadets, who by some
means got the impression that I desired to change my
seat. He sent for me and emphatically ordered me to
keep the seat which had by his order been assigned me.
Thus the effort to change my seat, made by the third-classman
through the sergeant, but claimed to have been
made by me, failed. It was out of the question for it to be
otherwise. If the sergeant had wanted the seat himself he
would in all probability have got it, because he was my
senior in class and lineal rank. But the third-classman
was my junior in both, and therefore could not,
by any military regulation, get possession of what I was
entitled to by my superior rank. And the effort to do so
must be regarded a marvellous display of stupidity, or a
belief on the part of the cadet that I could be imposed
upon with impunity, simply because I was alone and had
shown no disposition to quarrel or demand either real or
imaginary rights.

While in Now York during my furlough—summer
of '75—I was introduced to one of her wealthy
bankers. We conversed quite a while on various topics,
and finally resumed the subject on which we began, viz.,
West Point. He named a cadet, whom I shall call for
convenience John, and asked if I knew him. I replied in
the affirmative. After asking various other questions of
him, his welfare, etc., he volunteered the following bit of
information:

“Oh! yes,” said he, “I've known John for several
years. He used to peddle newspapers around the bank
here. I was agreeably surprised when I heard he had
been appointed to a cadetship at West Point. The boys
who come in almost every morning with their papers told
me John was to sell me no more papers. His mother has
scrubbed out the office here, and cleaned up daily for a
number of years. John's a good fellow though, and I'm
glad to know of his success.”

This information was to me most startling. There
certainly was nothing dishonorable in that sort of labor—
nay, even there was much in it that deserved our highest
praise. It was honest, humble work. But who would
imagine from the pompous bearing assumed by the
gentleman that he ever peddled newspapers, or that his
mother earned her daily bread by scrubbing on her knees
office floors? And how does this compare with the
average negro?

It is not to me very pleasant to thus have another's
private history revealed, but when it is done I can't help
feeling myself better in one sense at least than my
self-styled superiors. I certainly am not really one thing and
apparently another. The distant haughtiness assumed by
some of them,
and the constant endeavor to avoid me, as if I were “a
stick or a stone, the veriest poke of creation,” had no
other effect than to make me feel as if I were really so,
and to discourage and dishearten me. I hardly know how
I endured it all so long. If I were asked to go over it all
again, even with the experience I now have, I fear I
should fail. I mean of course the strain on my mind and
sensitiveness would be so great I'd be unable to endure
it.

There is that in every man, it has been said, either
good or bad, which will manifest itself in his speech or
acts. Keeping this in mind while I constantly study those
around me, I find myself at times driven to most
extraordinary conclusions. If some are as good as their
speech, then, if I may be permitted to judge, they have
most devoutly observed that blessed commandment,
“Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be
long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,”
in that they have profited by their teaching both mentally
and morally.

On the other hand, we hear from many the very
worst possible language. Some make pardonable errors,
while others make blunders for which there can be no
excuse save ignorance. Judging their character by their
speech, what a sad condition must be theirs; and more,
what a need for missionary work!

This state of affairs gives way in the second, and
often in the first year, to instruction and discipline. West
Point's greatest glory arises from her unparalleled
success in polishing these rough specimens and
sending them forth “officers and gentlemen.” No college
in the country has such a “heterogeneous
conglomeration”—to quote Dr. Johnson—of classes.
The highest and lowest are represented. The glory of
free America, her recognition of equality of all men, is not
so apparent anywhere else as at West Point. And were
prejudice entirely obliterated, then would America in truth
be that Utopia of which so many have but dreamed. It is
rapidly giving way to better reason, and the day is not far
distant when West Point will stand forth as the proud
exponent of absolute social equality. Prejudice weakens,
and ere long will fail completely. The advent of general
education sounds its death knell. And may the day be not
afar off when America shall proclaim her emancipation
from the basest of all servitudes, the subservience to
prejudice!

After feeling reasonably sure of success, I have often
thought that my good treatment was due in a measure to
a sort of apprehension on the part of the cadets that,
when I should come to exercise command over them, I
would use my authority to retaliate for any ill-treatment I
had suffered. I have thought this the case with those
especially who have been reared in the principles of
prejudice, and often in none other, for “prejudices, it is
well known, are the most difficult to eradicate from the
heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by
education. They grow there as firm as weeds among
rocks.”

When the time did come, and I proved by purely
gentlemanly conduct that it was no harder, no more
dishonorable, to be under me than under others, this
reserve vanished to a very great extent. I might mention
instances in which this is evident.

At practical engineering, one day, three of us were
making a gabion. One was putting in the watling, another
keeping it firmly down, while I was preparing it. I had had
some instruction on a previous day as to how it should be
made, but the two others had not. When they had put in
the watling to within the proper distance of the top they
began trimming off the twigs and butt ends of the withes.
I happened to turn toward the gabion and observed what
they were doing. In a tone of voice, and with a familiarity
that surprised my own self, I exclaimed, “Oh, don't do
that. Don't you see if you cut those off before sewing, the
whole thing will come to pieces? Secure the ends first
and then cut off the twigs.”

They stopped working, listened attentively, and one of
them replied, “Yes, that would be the most sensible
way.” I proceeded to show them how to sew the watling
and to secure the ends. They were classmates. They
listened to my voluntary instruction and followed it
without a thought of who gave it, or any feeling of
prejudice.

At foot battery drill one day I was chief of piece.
After a time the instructor rested the battery. The
cannoneers at my piece, instead of going off and sitting
down, gathered around me and asked questions about the
nomenclature of the piece and its carriage. “What is this?”
“What is it for?” and many others. They were
third-classmen. Certainly there was no prejudice in this.
Certainly, too, it could only be
due to good conduct on my part. And here is another.

Just after taps on the night of July 12th, 1876, while
lying in my tent studying the stars, I happened to overhear
a rather angry conversation concerning my unfortunate
self.

It seems the cadet speaking had learned beforehand
that he and myself would be on duty a few days hence,
myself as senior and he as junior officer of the guard. His
chums were teasing him on his misfortune of being under
me as junior, which act caused him to enter into a violent
panegyric upon me. He began by criticising my military
aptitude and the manner in which I was treated by the
authorities, that is, by the cadet officers, as is apparent
from what follows :

“That nigger,” said he, “don't keep dressed.
Sometimes he's 'way head of the line. He swings his
arms, and does other things not half as well as
other ‘devils,’ and yet he's not ‘skinned’ for it.”

What a severe comment upon the way in which the
file-closers discharge their duties! Severe, indeed, it
would be were it true. It is hardly reasonable, I think, to
suppose the file-closers, in the face of prejudice and
the probability of being “cut,” would permit me to do the
things mentioned with impunity, while they reported even
their own classmates for them.

And here again we see the fox and sour grapes. The
gentleman who so honored me with his criticism was
junior to me in every branch of study we had taken up to
that time except in French. I was his senior in tactics by—
well, to give the number of files
would be to specify him too closely and make my
narrative too personal. Suffice it to say I ranked him, and
I rather fancy, as I did not gain that position by
favoritism, but by study and proficiency, he should not
venture to criticise. But so it is all through life, at West
Point as well as elsewhere. Malcontents are ever finding
faults in others which they never think of discovering in
themselves.

When the time came the detail was published at
parade, and next day we duly marched on guard. When I
appeared on the general parade in full dress, I noticed
mischievous smiles on more than one face, for the
majority of the corps had turned out to see me. I walked
along, proudly unconscious of their presence.

Although I went through the ceremony of guard
mounting without a single blunder, I was not at all at ease.
I inspected the front rank, while my junior inspected the
rear. I was sorely displeased to observe some of the
cadets change color as they tossed up their pieces for
my inspection, and that they watched me as I went
through that operation. Some of them were from the
South, and educated to consider themselves far superior
to those of whom they once claimed the right of
possession. I know it was to them most galling, and
although I fully felt the responsibility and honor of
commanding the guard, I frankly and candidly confess
that I found no pleasure in their apparent humiliation.

I am as a matter of course opposed to prejudice, but I
nevertheless hold that those who are not have just as
much right to their opinions on the matter as they would
have to any one of the various religious
creeds. We in free America at least would not be
justified in forcing them to renounce their views or
beliefs on race and color any more than those on religion.

We can sometimes, by so living that those who differ
from us in opinion respecting any thing can find no fault
with us or our creed, influence them to a just
consideration of our views, and perhaps persuade them
unconsciously to adopt our way of thinking. And just so it
is, I think, with prejudice. There is a certain dignity in
enduring it which always evokes praise from those who
indulge it, and also often discovers to them their error and
its injustice.

Knowing that it would be unpleasant to my junior to
have to ask my permission to do this or that, and not
wishing to subject him to more mortification than was
possible, I gave him all the latitude I could, telling him to
use his own discretion, and that he need not ask my
permission for any thing unless he chose.

This simple act, forgotten almost as soon as done,
was in an exceedingly short time known to every cadet
throughout the camp, and I had the indescribable
pleasure, some days after, of knowing that by it I had
been raised many degrees in the estimation of the corps.
Nor did this knowledge remain in camp. It was spread all
over the Point. The act was talked of and praised by the
cadets wherever they went, and their conversations were
repeated to me many times by different persons.

When on guard again I was the junior, and of course
subject to the orders of the senior. He came to me
voluntarily, and in almost my own words gave
me exactly the same privileges I had given my junior,
who was a chum of my present senior. In view of the
ostracism and isolation to which I had been subjected, it
was expected that I would be severe, and use my
authority to retaliate. When, however, I did a more
Christian act, did to others as I would have them do to
me, and not as they had sometimes done, I gave cause
for a similar act of good-will, which was in a degree
beyond all expectation accorded me.

Indeed, while we are all prone to err, we are also
very apt to do to others as they really do to us. If they
treat us well, we treat them well; if badly, we treat them
so also. I believe such to be in accordance with our
nature, and if we do not always do so our failure is due to
some influence apart from our better reason, if we do not
treat them well, or our first impulse if we do. If now, on
the contrary, I had been severe and unnecessarily
imperious because of my power, I should in all probability
have been treated likewise, and would have fallen and not
have risen in the estimation of the cadets.

It has often occurred to me that the terms “prejudice
of race, of color,” etc., were misnomers, and for this
reason. As soon as I show that I have some good
qualities, do some act of kindness in spite of insult, my
color is forgotten and I am well treated. Again, I have
observed that colored men of character and intellectual
ability have been treated as men should be by all, whether
friends or enemies; that is to say, no prejudice of color or
race has ever been manifested.

I have been so treated by men I knew to be—to
use a political term—“vile democrats.” Unfortunately a
bad temper, precipitation, stubbornness, and like qualities,
all due to non-education, are too often attributes of
colored men and women. These characteristics lower the
race in the estimation of the whites, and produce, I think,
what we call prejudice. In fact I believe prejudice is due
solely to non-education and its effects in one or perhaps
both races.

Prejudice of—well, any word that will express these
several characteristics would be better, as it would be
nearer the truth.

There is, of course, a very large class of ignorant and
partially cultured whites whose conceptions can find no
other reason for prejudice than that of color. I doubt very
much whether they are prejudiced on that account as it
is. I rather think they are so because they know others
are for some reason, and so cringing are they in their
weakness that they follow like so many trained curs. This
is the class we in the South are accustomed to call the
“poor white trash,” and speaking of them generally I can
neglect them in this discussion of my treatment, and
without material error.

In camp at night the duties of the officers of the guard
are discharged part of the night by the senior and the
other part by the junior officer. As soon as it was night—to
revert to the subject of this article—my junior came to me
and asked how I wished to divide the night tour.

“Just suit yourself. If you have any reason for
wanting a particular part of the night, I shall be pleased
to have you take it.”

He chose the latter half of the night, and asked
me to wake him at a specified time. After this he
discovered a reason for taking the first half, and coming
to me said:

“If it makes no difference to you I will take the first
half of the night.”

“As you like,” was my reply.

“You ‘pile in’ then, and I'll wake you in time,” was his
reply.

Observe the familiarity in this rejoinder.

The guard was turned out and inspected by the
officer of the day at about 12.20 P.M. After the inspection
I retired, and was awakened between 1 and 2 P.M. by my
junior, who then retired for the night.

The officer in charge turned out and inspected the
guard between 2 and 3 p.m.

Several of the cadets were reported to me by the
corporals for violating regulations. The reports were duly
recorded in the guard report for the day. I myself
reported but one cadet, and his offence was “Absence
from tattoo roll-call of guard.”

These reports were put in under my signature, though
not at all made by me, as also was another of a very
grave nature.

It seems—for I didn't know the initial circumstances
of the case—that a citizen visiting at West Point asked a
cadet if he could see a friend of his who was a member
of the corps. The cadet at once sought out the corporal
then on duty, and asked him to go to camp and turn out
this friend. The corporal did not go. The cadet who
requested him to do so reported the fact to the officer of
the day. The latter came at once to me and directed me,
as officer of the guard, to order him to go and turn out
the cadet, and to see that he did it. I did as ordered. The
corporal replied, “I have turned him out.” As the cadet
did not make his appearance the officer of the day
himself went into camp, brought him out to his citizen
friend, and then ordered me in positive terms to report the
corporal for gross disobedience of orders. I
communicated to him the corporal's reply, and received a
repetition of his order. I obeyed it, entering on my guard
report the following:

“—, disobedience of orders, not turning out a cadet for
citizen when ordered to do so by the officer of the
guard.”

The commandant sent for me, and learned from me
all the circumstances of the case as far as I knew them.
He made similar requirements of the corporal himself.

Connected with this case is another, which, I think,
should be recorded, to show how some have been
disposed to act and think concerning myself. At the
dinner table, and on the very day this affair above
mentioned occurred, a cadet asked another if he had
heard about—, mentioning the name of the cadet corporal.

“No, I haven't,” he replied; “what's the matter with
him?”

“Why, the officer of the day ordered him reported for
disobedience of orders, and served him right too.”

“What was it? Whose orders did he disobey?”

“Some cit wanted to see a cadet and asked C—if
he could do so. C—asked—, who was then on duty, to
go to camp and turn him out. He
didn't do it, but went off and began talking with some
ladies. The officer of the day directed the senior officer
of the guard to order him to go. He did order him to go
and—replied, “I have turned him out,” and didn't go.
The officer of the day then turned him out, and ordered
him to be reported for disobedience of orders, and I say
served him right.”

“I don't see it,” was the reply.

“Don' t see it? Why—'s relief was on post, and it was
his duty to attend to all such calls during his tour; and
besides, I think ordinary politeness would have been
sufficient to make him go.”

“Well, I can sympathize with him anyhow.”

“Sympathize with him! How so?”

“Because he's on guard to-day.” What an excellent
reason! “Because he's on guard to-day,” or, in other
words, because I was in command of the guard.

He then went on to speak of the injustice of the
report, the malice and spirit of retaliation shown in giving
it, and hoped that the report would not be the cause of
any punishment. And all this because the report was
under my signature.

When the corporal replied to me that he had turned
out the cadet, I considered it a satisfactory answer,
supposing the cadet's non-appearance was due to delay
in arranging his toilet. I had no intention of reporting him,
and did so only in obedience to positive orders. There
surely was nothing malicious or retaliatory in that; and to
condemn me for discharging the first of all military duties—
viz., obedience of orders—is but to prove the
narrowness
of the intellect and the baseness of the character which
are vaunted as so far superior to those of the “negro
cadet,” and which condemn him and his actions for no
other reason than that they are his. How could it be
otherwise than that he be isolated and persecuted when
such minds are concerned?

In his written explanation to the commandant the
corporal admitted the charge of disobedience of orders on
his part, but excused himself by saying he had delegated
another cadet to discharge the duty for him. This was
contrary to regulations, and still further aggravated his
offence.

For an incident connected with this tour of guard duty,
see chapter on “Incidents, Humor,” etc.

The only case of downright malice that has come to
my knowledge—and I'm sure the only one that ever
occurred—is the following:

It is a custom, as old as the institution I dare say, for
cadets of the first and second classes to march in the
front rank, while all others take their places in the rear
rank, with the exception that third-classmen may be in the
front rank whenever it is necessary for the proper
formation of the company to put them there. The need of
such a custom is apparent. Fourth-classmen, or plebes
not accustomed to marching and keeping dressed, are
therefore unfit to be put in the front rank. Third-
classmen have to give way to the upper classmen on
account of their superior rank, and are able to march in
the front rank only when put there or allowed to remain
there by the file-closers. When I was a plebe, and also
during my third-class year, I marched habitually in the
rear rank, as stated with reason elsewhere. But
when I became a second-classman, and had by class rank a
right to the front rank, I took my place there.

Just about this time I distinctly heard the cadet captain of
my company say to the first sergeant, or rather ask him why he
did not put me in the rear rank. The first sergeant replied curtly,
“Because he's a second-classman now, and I have no right to
do it.” This settled the question for the time, indeed for quite a
while, till the incident above referred to occurred.

At a formation of the company for retreat parade in the
early spring of '76, it was necessary to transfer some one from
the front to the rear rank. Now instead of transferring a third-
classman, the sergeant on the left of the company ordered me,
a second classman, into the rear rank. I readily obeyed, because
I felt sure I'd be put back after the company was formed and
inspected, as had been done by him several times before. But
this was not done. I turned to the sergeant and reminded him
that he had not put me-back where I belonged. He at once did
so without apparent hesitation or unwillingness. He, however,
reported me for speaking to him about the discharge of his
duties. For this offence, I submitted the following explanation:

WEST POINT, N. Y., April 11, 1876.

Offense: Speaking to sergeant about formation of company at
parade.

Explanation: I would respectfully state that the above report is a
mistake. I said nothing whatever about the formation of the company. I
was put in the rear rank, and, contrary to custom, left there. As soon as
the command “ In place, rest,” was given, I turned to the nearest
sergeant and said, “Mr.—, can I take my place in the front rank?” He leaned to the front and looked along
the line. I then said, “There are men in the front rank who are
junior to me.” I added, a moment after, “There is one just up there,” motioning with my head the direction meant. He made the
change.

This explanation was sent by the commandant to the
reporting sergeant. He indorsed it in about the following
words:

Respectfully returned with the following statement:
It was necessary in forming the company to put Cadet Flipper in the
rear rank, and as I saw no third-classman in the front rank, I left him
there as stated. I reported him because I did not think he had any right
to speak to me about the discharge of my duty.

“———,
Cadet Sergeant Company “D.”

A polite question a reflection on the manner of
discharging one's duty! A queer construction indeed!
Observe, he says, he saw no third-classman in the front
rank. It was his duty to be sure about it, and if there was
one there to transfer him to the rear, and myself to the
front rank. In not doing so he neglected his duty and
imposed upon me and the dignity of my class. I was
therefore entirely justified in calling his attention to his
neglect.

This is a little thing, but it should be borne in mind that it
is nevertheless of the greatest importance.
We know what effect comity or international politeness
has on the relations or intercourse between nations. The
most trifling acts, such as congratulations on a birth or
marriage in the reigning family, are wonderfully
efficacious in keeping up that feeling
of amity which is so necessary to peace and
continued friendship between states. To disregard these
little things is considered unfriendly, and may be the
cause of serious consequences.

There is a like necessity, I think, in our own case.
Any affront to me which is also an affront to my class
and its dignity deserves punishment or satisfaction. To
demand it, then, gives my class a better opinion of me,
and serves to keep that opinion in as good condition as
possible.

I knew well that there were men in the corps who
would readily seize any possible opportunity to report me,
and I feared at the time that I might be reported for
speaking to the sergeant. I was especially careful to
guard against anger or roughness in my speech, and to
put my demand in the politest form possible. The offence
was removed. I received no demerits, and the sergeant
had the pleasure or displeasure of grieving at the failure
of his report.

I am sorry to know that I have been charged, by some
not so well acquainted with West Point and life there as
they should be to criticise, with manifesting a lack of
dignity in that I allowed myself to be insulted, imposed
upon, and otherwise ill-treated. There appears to them
too great a difference between the treatment of former
colored cadets and that of myself, and the only way they
are pleased to account for this difference is to say that
my good treatment was due to want of “spunk,” and
even to fear, as some have said. It evidently never
occurred to them that my own conduct determined more
than all things else the kind of treatment I would
receive.

Every one not stubbornly prejudiced against
West Point, and therefore not disposed to censure or
criticise every thing said or done there, knows how
false the charge is. And those who make it scarcely
deserve my notice. I would say to them, however,
that true dignity, selon nous, consists in being above
the rabble and their insults, and particularly in
remaining there. To stoop to retaliation is not compatible
with true dignity, nor is vindictiveness
manly. Again, the experiment suggested by my
accusers has been abundantly tried, and proved a
most ridiculous failure, while my own led to a glorious
success.

I do not mean to boast or do any thing of the kind, but I
would suggest to all future colored cadets to base their
conduct on the

[Word in Greek]

the golden mean. It is by
far the safer, and surely the most Christian course.

Before closing this chapter I would add with just pride that
I have ever been treated by all other persons connected with
the Academy not officially, as becomes one gentleman to treat
another. I refer to servants, soldiers, other enlisted men, and
employés. They have done for me whatever I wished, whenever
I wished, and as I wished, and always kindly and willingly.
They have even done things for me to the exclusion of others.
This is important when it is remembered that the employés, with
one exception, are white.

“NATIONAL SCHOOLS AND SNOBOCRACY.

“ ‘Cadet Smith has arrived in Columbia. He did not “pass.”’
—Phoenix

“ ‘Alexander Bouchet, a young man of color, graduates from Yale
College, holding the fifth place in the largest class graduated from that
ancient institution.’—Exchange.

“These simple announcements from different papers tersely sum up
the distinction between the military and civil education of this country.
One is exclusive, snobbish, and narrow, the other is liberal and
democratic.

“No one who has watched the course of Cadet Smith and the
undemocratic, selfish, and snobbish treatment he has experienced from
the martinets of West Point, men educated at the expense of the
government, supported by negro taxes, as well as white, who attempt to
dictate who shall receive the benefits of an education in our national
charity schools—no one who has read of his court-martialings, the
degradations and the petty insults inflicted upon him can help feeling
that he returns home to-day, in spite of the Phoenix's sneers, a young
hero who has ‘passed’ in grit, pluck, perseverance, and all the better
qualities which go to make up true manhood, and only has been ‘found’
because rebel sympathizers at West Point, the fledglings of caste, and the
Secretary of War, do not intend to allow, if they can prevent it, a negro
to graduate at West Point or Annapolis, if he is known to be a negro.

“Any one conversant with educational matters who has examined
the examinations for entrance, or the curriculum of the naval and
military academies, will not for a moment believe that their requirements,
not as high as those demanded for an ordinary New England high
school, and by no means equal in thoroughness, quantity, or quality to
that demanded for entrance at Yale, Amherst, Dartmouth, or Brown, are
too high or abstruse to be compassed by negroes, some of whom have
successfully stood all these, and are now pursuing their studies in the best
institutions of the North.

“No fair-minded man believes that Smith, Napier and Williams,
Conyers and McClellan, have had impartial treatment. The government
itself has been remiss in not throwing about them the protection of its
authority. Had these colored boys been students at St. Cyr, in Paris, or
Woolwich, in England, under despotic France and aristocratic England,
they would have been treated with that courtesy and justice of which the
average white American has no idea. The South once ruled West Point,
much to its detriment in loyalty, however much, by reason of sending
boys more than prepared. It dominated in scholarship. It seeks to
recover the lost ground, and rightly fears to meet on terms of equality
in the camp the sons of
fathers to whom it refused quarter in the war and butchered in cold blood
at Fort Pillow. We cannot expect the sons to forget the lessons of the
sires; but we have a right to demand from the general government the
rooting out of all snobbery at West Point, whether it is of that kind
which sends poor white boys to Coventry, because they haven't a family
name or wealth, or whether it be that smallest, meanest, and shallowest
of all aristocracies—the one founded upon color.

“If the government is not able to root out these unrepublican seeds
in these hot-beds of disloyalty and snobbery, then let Congress shut up
the useless and expensive appendages and educate its officers at the
colleges of the country, where they may learn lessons in true republican
equality and nationality. The remedy lies with Congress. A remonstrance
at least should be heard from the colored members of Congress, who are
insulted whenever a colored boy is ill-treated by the students or the
officers of these institutions. So far from being discouraged by defeats,
the unjust treatment meted out to these young men should redouble the
efforts of others of their class to carry this new Bastile by storm. It
should lead every colored Congressman to make sure that he either sends
a colored applicant or a white one who has not the seeds of snobbery and
caste in his soul. Smith, after four years of torture, comes home, is
driven home, because, forsooth, he might attend the ball next year! He is
hounded out of the Academy because he would have to be assigned to a
white regiment! There are some negroes who feel that their rights in the
land of their birth are superior to the prejudices of the enemies of the
Union, and who dare to speak and write in behalf of these rights, as their
fathers dared to fight for them a very few years ago.

“Bouchet, under civil rule, enters Yale College the best prepared
student of one hundred and thirty freshmen, and all through his course is
treated like a gentleman, both by the faculty and the students, men who
know what justice means, and have some adequate idea of the true theory
of education and gentlemanly conduct. Two freed boys, from North
Carolina and South Carolina, slaves during the war, prepare at the best
Northern academics, and enter, without remonstrance, Amherst and
Dartmouth. What divinity, then, hedges West Point and Annapolis?
What but the old rebel spirit, which seeks again to control them for use
in future rebellions as it did in the past. The war developed some
unwelcome truths with regard to this snobbish and disloyal spirit of our
national institutions, and the exploits of some volunteer officers showed
that all manhood,
bravery, skill, and energy were not contained in West Point or
Annapolis, or, if there, did not pertain solely to the petty cliques that
aim to give tone to those academies. It is not for any officer, the
creature of the government—it is not for any student, the willing ward of
that government—to say who shall enter the national schools and be the
recipients of my bounty. It is the duty of every member of Congress to
see that the government sanctions no such spirit; and it becomes every
loyal citizen who wishes to avoid the mistakes of the former war to see
to it that no class be excluded, and that every boy, once admitted, shall
have the strictest justice dealt out to him, a thing which, thus far, has
not been done in the case of the colored cadets.

“The true remedy lies in the feelings and sympathies of the officers
of these academies, in the ability and fair investigations of the board of
examiners; not from such gentlemen as at present seem to rule these
institutions.

“NIGER NIGRORUM.”

This article was taken from some South Carolina
paper during the summer of '74. Its tone is in accordance
with the multitude of articles upon the same subject
which occurred about the same time, and, like them all, or
most of them, is rather farfetched. It is too broad. Its
denunciations cover too much ground. They verge upon
untruth.

As to Conyers and McClellan at the Naval Academy
I know nothing. Of Napier I know nothing. Of Smith I
prefer to say nothing. Of Williams I do express the belief
that his treatment was impartial and just. He was
regularly and rightly found deficient and duly dismissed.
The article seems to imply that he should not have been
“found ” and dismissed simply because he was a negro.
A very shallow reason indeed, and one “no fair-minded
man” will for an instant entertain.

Of four years' life at the Academy, I spent the first
with Smith, rooming with him. During the
first half year Williams was also in the corps with us. The
two following years I was alone. The next and last year
of my course I spent with Whittaker, of South Carolina. I
have thus had an opportunity to become acquainted with
Smith's conduct and that of the cadets toward him. Smith
had trouble under my own eyes on more than one
occasion, and Whittaker* has already received blows in
the face, but I have not had so much as an angry word to
utter. There is a reason for all this, and had “Niger
Nigrorum” been better acquainted with it he had never
made the blunder he has.

*Johnson Chestnut Whittaker, of Camden, South Carolina,
appointed to fill vacancy created by Smith's dismissal, after several white
candidates so appointed had failed, entered the Academy in September,
1876. Shortly after entering he was struck in the face by a young man
from Alabama for sneering at him, as he said, while passing by him.
Whittaker immediately reported the affair to the cadet officer of the
day, by whose efforts this belligerent Alabama gentleman was brought
before a court-martial, tried, found guilty, and suspended for something
over six months, thus being compelled to join the next class that entered
the Academy.

I cannot venture more on the treatment of colored
cadets generally without disregarding the fact that this is
purely a narrative of my own treatment and life at West
Point. To go further into that subject would involve
much difference of opinion, hard feelings in certain
quarters, and would cause a painful and needless
controversy.

CHAPTER XI.
RESUME.

JULY 1, 1876! Only one year more; and yet how wearily
the days come and go! How anxiously we watch them,
how eagerly we count them, as they glimmer in the
distance, and forget them as they fade! What joyous
anticipation, what confident expectation, what hope
animates each soul, each heart, each being of us! What
encouragement to study this longing, this impatience
gives us, as if it hastened the coming finale! And who
felt it more than I? Who could feel it more than I? To
me it was to be not only an end of study, of discipline, of
obedience to the regulations of the Academy, but even
an end to isolation, to tacit persecution, to melancholy, to
suspense. It was to be the grand realization of my hopes,
the utter, the inevitable defeat of the minions of pride,
prejudice, caste. Nor would such consummation of
hopes affect me only, or those around me. Nay, even I
was but the point of “primitive disturbance,” whence
emanates as if from a focus, from a new origin, prayer,
friendly and inimical, to be focused again into realization
on one side and discomfiture on the other. My friends,
my enemies, centre their hopes on me. I treat them, one
with earnest endeavor for realization, the other with
supremest indifference. They are deviated with varying
anxiety on either side, and hence my joy,
my gratitude, when I find, July 1, 1876, that I am a
first-classman.

A first-classman! The beginning of realization,
for had I not distanced all the colored cadets before me?
Indeed I had, and that with the greater prospect of
ultimate success gave me double cause for rejoicing.

A first-classman! “There's something prophetic in it,”
for behold

“The country begins to be agitated
by the approaching graduation of
young Flipper, the colored West Point cadet from Atlanta. If he succeeds
in getting into the aristocratic circles of the official army there will be a
commotion for a certainty. Flipper is destined to be famous.”

Such was the nature of the many editorials which
appeared about this time, summer of '76. The
circumstance was unusual, unexpected, for it had been
predicted that only slaughter awaited me at that very
stage, because Smith had failed just there, just where I
had not.

“Henry Flipper, of Atlanta, enjoys the distinction of being the only
negro cadet that the government is cramming with food and knowledge
at West Point. He stands forty-sixth in the third class, which includes
eighty-five cadets. A correspondent of the New York Times says that,
while all concede Flipper's progress, yet it is not believed that he will be
allowed to graduate. No negro has passed out of the institution a
graduate, and it is believed that Flipper will be eventually slaughtered in
one way or another. The rule among the regulars is: No darkeys need
apply.”

Or this :

“Smith's dismissal leaves
Henry Flipper the sole cadet of color at
West Point. Flipper's pathway will not be strewn with roses, and we shall
be surprised if the Radicals do not compel him, within a year, to seek
refuge from a sea of troubles in his father's quiet shoe shop on Decatur
Street.”

Isn't it strange how some people strive to drag
everything into politics! A political reason is assigned to
every thing, and “every thing is politics.”

The many editors who have written on the subject of
the colored cadets have, with few exceptions, followed
the more prejudiced and narrow-minded critics who have
attributed every thing, ill-treatment, etc., to a natural
aversion for the negro, and to political reasons. They
seem to think it impossible for one to discharge a duty or
to act with justice in any thing where a negro is
concerned. Now this is unchristian as well as hasty and
undeserved. As I have said elsewhere in my narrative,
aside from the authorities being de facto “officers and
gentlemen,” and therefore morally bound to discharge
faithfully every duty, they are under too great a
responsibility to permit them to act as some have asserted
for them, to compel me “to seek refuge from a sea of
troubles,” or to cause me to “be eventually slaughtered in
one way or another.” Who judges thus is not disposed to
judge fairly, but rather as suits some pet idea of his own,
to keep up prejudice and all its curses.

It would be more Christian, and therefore more just, I
apprehend, to consider both sides of the question, the
authorities and those under them. Other and better
reasons would be found for some things which have
occurred, and reasons which would not be based on
falsehood, and which would not tend to perpetuate the
conflict of right and prejudice. My own success will
prove, I hope, not only that I had sufficient ability to
graduate—which by the way none have questioned—but
also that the authorities were
not as some have depicted them. This latter proof is
important, first, because it will remove that fear which
has deterred many from seeking, and even from
accepting appointments when offered, to which
determent my isolation is largely due; and second,
because it will add another to the already long list of
evidences of the integrity of our national army.

To return to the last quotation. Immediately after the
dismissal of Smith, indeed upon the very day of that
event, it was rumored that I intended to resign. I learned
of the rumor from various sources, only one of which I
need mention.

I was on guard that day, and while off duty an officer
high in rank came to me and invited me to visit him at his
quarters next day. I did so, of course. His first words,
after greeting, etc., were to question the truth of the
rumor, and before hearing my reply, to beg me to
relinquish any such intention. He was kind enough to give
me much excellent advice, which I have followed most
religiously. He assured me that prejudice, if it did exist
among my instructors, would not prevent them from
treating me justly and impartially. I am proud to testify
now to the truth of his assurance. He further assured me
that the officers of the Academy and of the army, and
especially the older ones, desired to have me graduate,
and that they would do all within the legitimate exercise
of their authority to promote that end. This assurance has
been made me by officers of nearly every grade in the
army, from the general down, and has ever been carried
out by them whenever a fit occasion presented itself.

Surely this is not discouraging. Surely, too, it
is not causing me “to seek refuge from a sea of troubles.”
We need only go back to the article quoted from the
Era, and given in Chapter III., to find an explanation for
this conduct.

“We know that any young man, whether he be poor
or black, or both, may enter any first-class college in
America and find warm sympathetic friends, both among
students and faculty, if he but prove himself to
be possessed of some good qualities.”

This is the keynote to the whole thing. One must not
expect to do as one pleases, whether that be right or
wrong, or right according to some fanatical theory, and
notwithstanding to be dealt with in a manner warranted
only by the strictest notion of right. We must force others
to treat us as we wish, by giving them such an example
of meekness and of good conduct as will at least shame
them into a like treatment of us. This is the safer and
surer method of revenge.

“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he
thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals
of fire on his head.”

To proceed: I am undoubtedly a first-classman. None
other has enjoyed that eminence. There are many honors
and responsibilities incident to that position or rank.
First-classmen have authority at times over their fellow-cadets.
How will it be when I come to have that authority?
Will that same coldness and distance be manifested as
hitherto? These are important questions. I shall be
brought necessarily into closer relations with the cadets
than before. How will they accept such relationship? The
greatest proof of their personal convictions will be
manifested in their conduct here. If they evade my
authority, or are stubborn or disobedient, then are their
convictions unfriendly indeed. But if kind, generous,
willing to assist, to advise, to obey, to respect myself as
well as my office, then are they, as I ever believed them
to be, gentlemen in all that recognizes no prejudice, no
caste, nothing inconsistent with manhood.

There are certain privileges accorded to first-classmen
which the other classes do not enjoy. The
privates of the first class do duty as officers of the guard,
as company officers at company and battalion drills, at
light battery drills, and at other drills and ceremonies. In
all these cases they have command of other cadets.
These cadets are subject to their orders and are liable to
be reported—indeed such is required—for disobedience,
stubbornness, or for any thing prejudicial to good order
and good discipline.

In this fact is a reason—the only one, I think, which will
in any manner account for the unpardonable reserve of
many of the cadets. To be subject to me, to my orders,
was to them an unbearable torture. As they looked
forward to the time when I should exercise command
over them, they could not help feeling the mortification
which would be upon them.

I must modify my statement. They may be
prejudiced, and yet gentlemen, and if gentlemen they will
not evade authority even though vested in me.

We go into camp at West Point on the 17th of June,
'76 for ten days. During all that time I enjoy all the
privileges of first-classmen. Nothing is done to make it
unpleasant or in any way to discourage or dishearten
me. We go to Philadelphia. We visit
the Centennial, and there not only is the same
kindness shown me, but I find a number of cadets accost
me whenever we meet, on the avenues and streets, on
the grounds and in the city. They ask questions, converse,
answer questions. This occurred several times at the
Southern Restaurant, as well as elsewhere. After the
parade on the 4th of July, every kindness was shown me.
Those cadets near me bought lemons, lemonade, etc, and
shared with me, and when, on another occasion, I was
the purchaser, they freely partook of my “good cheer.”
What conclusion shall I draw from this? That they are
unfriendly or prejudiced? I fain would drop my pen and
burn my manuscript if for even an instant I thought it
possible. And yet how shall I explain away this bit of
braggadocio in the words italicized in this article from the
Philadelphia Times?

“The Color Line.—One of the first-classmen is Mr. Flipper, of
Georgia, a young colored man. ‘We don't have any thing to do with him
off duty,’ said one of the cadets yesterday. ‘We don't even speak to him.
Of course we have to eat with him, and drill with him, and go on guard
with him, but that ends it. Outside of duty, we don't know him.’ ‘Is he
intelligent?’ ‘Yes; he stands high in his class, and I see no reason to doubt
that he will graduate next June. He has the negro features strongly
developed, but in color he is rather light.’ ”

Easily enough, I think. In the first place the statement
is too broad, if made by a cadet, which I very much
doubt. There are some of that “we” who do know me
outside of duty. And if a cadet made the statement he
must have been a plebe, one unacquainted with my status
in the corps, or one who, strenuously avoiding me himself,
supposed all others likewise did so. The cadet was not a
first-classman.
There is a want of information in his last
answer which could not have been shown by a
first-classman.

Again, he says we “go on guard with him.” Now that
is untrue, as I understand it. The word “with” would
imply that we were on guard in the same capacity, viz.,
as privates. But first-classmen do no guard duty in that
capacity, and hence not being himself a first-classman
he could not have been on guard“with” me. If he had
said “under him,” his statement would have been nearer
the truth.

After a stay of ten days in Philadelphia, we return to
West Point, and still the same respect is shown me.
There is but little more of open recognition, if any, than
before, and yet that I am respected is shown in many
ways. See, for example, the latter part of chapter on
“Treatment.”

Again, during my first year I many times overheard
myself spoken of as “the nigger,” “the moke,” or “the thing.” Now openly, and when my presence was not
known, I always hear myself mentioned as Mr. Flipper.
There are a few who use both forms of address as best
suits their convenience or inclination at the time. But why
is it? Why not “nigger,” “ moke,” or
“thing” as formerly?
Is there, can there be any other reason than that they
respect me more now than then? I am most unwilling to
believe there could be.

We begin our regular routine of duties, etc. We have
practical military engineering, ordnance, artillery, practical
astronomy in field and permanent observatories,
telegraphy, and guard. We are detailed for these duties.
Not the least distinction is made.
Not the slightest partiality is shown. Always the same
regard for my feelings, the same respect for me! See
the case of gabion in the chapter on “Treatment.”

At length, in my proper order, I am detailed for officer
of the guard. True, the cadets expressed some
wonderment, but why? Simply, and reasonably enough
too, because I was the first person of color that had ever
commanded a guard at the Military Academy of the
United States. It is but a natural curiosity. And how am I
treated? Is my authority recognized? Indeed it is. My
sergeant not only volunteered to make out the guard
report for me, but also offered any assistance I might
want, aside from the discharge of his own duty as
sergeant of the guard. Again, a number of plebes were
confined in the guard tents for grossness and
carelessness. I took their names, the times of their
imprisonment, and obtained permission to release them. I
was thanked for my trouble. Again, a cadet's father
wishes to see him. He is in arrest. I get permission for
him to visit his father at the guard tents. I go to his tent
and tell him, and start back to my post of duty. He calls
me back and thanks me. Must I call that natural aversion
for the negro, or even prejudice? Perhaps it is, but I
cannot so comprehend it. It may have that construction,
but as long as the other is possible it is generous to accept
it. And again, I am ordered to report a cadet. I do it. I am
stigmatized, of course, by some of the low ones (see that
case under “Treatment”); but my conduct, both in
obeying the order and subsequently, is
approved by the better portion of the corps. The
commandant said to me: “Your duty was a plain one, and
you discharged it properly. You were entirely right in
reporting Mr.—.” What is the conduct of this cadet himself
afterwards? If different at all from what it was before, it
is, in my presence at least, more cordial, more friendly,
more kind. Still there is no ill-treatment, assuming of
course that my own conduct is proper, and not obtrusive
or overbearing. And so in a multitude of ways this fact is
proved. I have noticed many things, little things perhaps
they were, but still proofs, in the conduct of all the cadets
which remove all doubt from my mind. And yet with all
my observation and careful study of those around me, I
have many times been unable to decide what was the
feeling of the cadets toward me. Some have been one
thing everywhere and at all times, not unkind or
ungenerous, nor even unwilling to hear me and be with
me, or near me, or on duty with me, or alone with me.
Some again, while not avoiding me in the presence of
others have nevertheless manifested their uneasy dislike
of my proximity. When alone with me they are kind, and
all I could wish them to be. Others have not only
strenuously avoided me when with their companions, but
have even at times shown a low disposition, a desire to
wound my feelings or to chill me with their coldness. But
alone, behold they know how to mimic gentlemen. The
kind of treatment which I was to receive, and have
received at the hands of the cadets, has been a matter of
little moment to me. True, it has at times been galling,
but its severest
effects have been but temporary and have caused me no
considerable trouble or inconvenience. I have rigidly
overlooked it all.

The officers, on the contrary, as officers and
gentlemen, have in a manner been bound to accord me
precisely the same privileges and advantages, etc., which
they granted the other cadets, and they have ever done
so.

I must confess my expectations in this last have been
most positively unfulfilled, and I am glad of it. The various
reports, rumors, and gossips have thus been proved not
only false but malicious, and that proof is of considerable
consequence. That they have not been unkind and
disposed to ill-treat me may be readily inferred from
the number of demerits I have received, and the nature of
the offences for which those demerits were given. They
have never taken it upon themselves to watch me and
report me for trifling offences with a view of giving me a
bad record in conduct, and thereby securing my dismissal,
for one hundred demerits in six months means dismissal.
They have ever acted impartially, and, ignoring my color,
have accorded me all immunities and privileges enjoyed
by other cadets, whether they were allowed by
regulations or were mere acts of personal favor. Of the
majority of the cadets I can speak likewise, for they too
have power to spy out and report.

As to treatment in the section-room, where there
were many opportunities to do me injustice by giving me
low marks for all recitations, good or bad, for instance,
they have scrupulously maintained their honor, and have
treated me there with exact
justice and impartiality. This is not a matter of opinion. I
can give direct and positive proof of its truthfulness. In
the chapter on “Studies,” in the record of marks that
proof can be found, my marks per recitation, and the
average are good. By rank in section is meant the order
of my mark—that is, whether best, next, the next, or
lowest. Are these marks not good? In law, for example,
once I received the eighth out of nine marks, then the
fifth, the first, second, third, first, first, and so on. Surely
there was nothing in them to show I was marked low
either purposely or otherwise.

My marks in the section for each week, month, and
the number of men in each section, afford the means of
comparison between the other members of the section
and myself. And my marks are not only evidence of the
possession on my part of some “good faculties,”
but also of the honor of my instructors and fellow-members of
section.

What manner of treatment the cadets chose to
manifest toward me was then of course of no account.
But what is of importance, and great importance too, is
how they will treat me in the army, when we have all
assumed the responsibilities of manhood, coupled with
those of a public servant, an army officer. Of course the
question cannot now be answered. I feel nevertheless
assured that the older officers at least will not stoop to
prejudice or caste, but will accord me proper treatment
and respect. Men of responsibility are concerned, and it is
not presumable that they will disregard the requirements
of their professions so far as to ill-treat even myself.
There is none of the recklessness of the student in their
actions, and they cannot but recognize me as having a just
claim upon their good-will and honor.

The year wears away—the last year it is too—and I find
myself near graduation, with every prospect of success.
And from the beginning to the close my life has been one
not of trouble, persecution, or punishment, but one of
isolation only. True, to an unaccustomed nature such a
life must have had many anxieties and trials and
displeasures, and, although it was so with me, I have
nothing more than that of which to complain. And if such
a life has had its unpleasant features, it has also had its
pleasant ones, of which not the least, I think, was the
constantly growing prospect of ultimate triumph. Again,
those who have watched my course and have seen in its
success the falsity of certain reports, can not have been
otherwise than overjoyed at it, at the, though tardy,
vindication of truth. I refer especially to certain erroneous
ideas which are or were extant concerning the treatment
of colored cadets, in which it is claimed that color decides
their fate. (See chapter on “Treatment.”)

I hope my success has proved that not color of face,
but color of character alone can decide such a question.
It is character and nothing else that will merit a harsh
treatment from gentlemen, and of course it must be a bad
character. If a man is a man, un homme comme il faut,
he need fear no ill-treatment from others of like calibre.
Gentlemen avoid persons not gentlemen. Resentment is
not a characteristic of gentlemen. A gentlemanly nature
must shrink from it. There may be in it a certain
amount of what is vulgarly termed pluck, and perhaps
courage. But what of that? Everybody more or less
admires pluck. Everybody worships courage, if it be of a
high order, but who allows that pluck or even courage is
an excuse for passion or its consequences? The whites
may admire pluck in the negro, as in other races, but they
will never admit unwarrantable obtrusiveness, or
rudeness, or grossness, or any other ungentlemanly trait,
and no more in the negro than in others. This is quite just.
A negro would not allow it even in another.

I did not intend to discuss social equality here, but as it
is not entirely foreign to my subject I may be pardoned a
word or so upon it.

Social equality, as I comprehend it, must be the
natural, and perhaps gradual, outgrowth of a similarity of
instincts and qualities in those between whom it exists.
That is to say, there can be no social equality between
persons who have nothing in common. A civilized being
would not accept a savage as his equal, his socius
, his
friend. It would be repugnant to nature. A savage is a
man, the image of his Maker as much so as any being.
He has all the same rights of equality which any other
has, but they are political rights only. He who buried his
one talent to preserve it was not deemed worthy to
associate with him who increased his five to ten. So also
in our particular case. There are different orders or
classes of men in every civilized community. The classes
are politically equal, equal in that they are free men and
citizens and have all the rights belonging to such station.
Among the
several classes there can be no social equality, for they have
nothing socially in common, although the members of each
class in itself may have.

Now in these recent years there has been a great clamor for
rights. The clamor has reached West Point, and, if no bad
results have come from it materially, West Point has
nevertheless received a bad reputation, and I think an
undeserved one, as respects her treatment of colored cadets.

A right must depend on the capacity and end or aim of the
man. This capacity and end may, and ought to be, moral, and
not political only. Equal capacities and a like end must give
equal rights, and unequal capacities and unlike ends unequal
rights, morally, of course, for the political end of all men is the
same. And therefore, since a proper society is a moral
institution where a certain uniformity of views, aims, purposes,
properties, etc., is the object, there must be also a uniformity or
equality of rights, for otherwise there would be no society, no
social equality.

This, I apprehend, is precisely the state of affairs in our
own country. Among those who, claiming social equality, claim
it as a right, there exists the greatest possible diversity of
creeds, instincts, and of moral and mental conditions, in which
they are widely different from those with whom they claim this
equality. They can therefore have no rights socially in
common; or, in other words, the social equality they claim is
not a right, and ought not to and cannot exist under present
circumstances, and any law that overreaches the moral reason
to the contrary must be admitted as unjust if not impolitic.

But it is color, they say, color only, which determines
how the negro must be treated. Color is his misfortune,
and his treatment must be his misfortune also. Mistaken
idea! and one of which we should speedily rid ourselves.
It may be color in some cases, but in the great majority of
instances it is mental and moral condition. Little or no
education, little moral refinement, and all their repulsive
consequences will never be accepted as equals of
education, intellectual or moral. Color is absolutely nothing
in the consideration of the question, unless we mean by it
not color of skin, but color of character, and I fancy we
can find considerable color there.

It has been said that my success at West Point would
be a grand victory in the way of equal rights, meaning, I
apprehend, social rights, social equality, inasmuch as all
have, under existing laws, equal political rights. Doubtless
there is much truth in the idea. If, however, we consider
the two races generally, we shall see there is no such
right, no such social right, for the very basis of such a
right, viz., a similarity of tastes, instincts, and of mental and
moral conditions, is wanting. The mental similarity
especially is wanting, and as that shapes and refines the
moral one, that too is wanting.

To illustrate by myself, without any pretensions to
selfishness. I have this right to social equality, for I and
those to whom I claim to be equal are similarly educated.
We have much in common, and this fact alone creates
my right to social and equal recognition.

“But the young gentlemen who boast of holding
only official intercourse with their comrade, should
remember that no one of them stands before the country
in any different light from him. . . . Amalgamated by the
uniform course of studies and the similarity of discipline,
the separating fragments at the end of the student life
carry similar qualities into the life before them, and step
with almost remarkable social equality into the world
where they must find their level.”—Philadelphia North
American, July 7th, 1876.

If we apply this to the people as a unit, the similarity
no longer exists. The right, therefore, also ceases to exist.

The step claimed to have been made by my success
is one due to education, and not to my position or
education at West Point, rather than at some other place;
so that it follows if there be education, if the mental and
moral condition of the claimants to that right be a proper
one, there will necessarily be social equality, and under
other circumstances there can be no such equality.

“Remember, dear friend,” says a correspondent, “that
you carry an unusual responsibility. The nation is
interested in what you do. If you win your diploma, your
enemies lose and your friends gain one very important
point in the great argument for equal rights. When you
shall have demonstrated that you have equal powers,
then equal rights will come in due time. The work which
you have chosen, and from which you cannot now flinch
without dishonor, proves far more important than either
you or me (Faculty at A. U.) at first conceived. Like all
great things its achievement will involve much of trial and
hardship.”

Alas! how true! What a trial it is to be socially ostracized,
to live in the very midst of life and yet be lonely, to pass day
after day without saying perhaps a single word other than
those used in the section-room during a recitation. How hard it
is to live month after month without even speaking to woman,
without feeling or knowing the refining influence of her
presence! What a miserable existence!

Oh! 'tis hard, this lonely living, to beIn the midst of life so solitary,To sit all the long, long day through and gazeIn the dimness of gloom, all but amazedAt the emptiness of life, and wonderWhat keeps sorrow and death asunder.'Tis the forced seclusion most galls the mind,And sours all other joy which it may find.'Tis the sneer, tho' half hid, is bitter still,And wakes dormant anger to passion's will.But oh! 'tis harder yet to bear them allUnangered and unheedful of the thrall,To list the jeer, the snarl, and epithetAll too base for knaves, and e'en still forgetSuch words were spoken, too manly to letSuch baseness move a nobler intellect.But not the words nor even the dreader disdainMove me to anger or resenting pain.'Tis the thought, the thought most disturbs my mind,That I'm ostracized for n fault of mine,'Tis that ever-recurring thought awakesMine anger—

Such a life was mine, not indeed for four years, but for the
earlier part of my stay at the Academy.

But to return to our subject. There are two questions
involved in my case. One of them is, Can
a negro graduate at West Point, or will one ever graduate
there? And the second, If one never graduate there, will
it be because of his color or prejudice?

My own success answers most conclusively the first
question, and changes the nature of the other. Was it,
then, color or actual deficiency that caused the dismissal
of all former colored cadets? I shall not venture to
reply more than to say my opinion is deducible from what
I have said elsewhere in my narrative.

However, my correspondent agrees with me that
color is of no consequence in considering the question
of equality socially. My friends, he says, gain an
important point in the argument for equal rights.
It will be in this wise, viz., that want of education,
want of the proof of equality of intellect, is the
obstacle, and not color. And the only way to get
this proof is to get education, and not by “war of
races.” Equal rights must be a consequence of this
proof, and not something existing before it. Equal
rights will come in due time, civil rights bill, war of
races, or any thing of that kind to the contrary not-
withstanding.

And moreover, I don't want equal rights, but identical
rights. The whites and blacks may have equal rights, and
yet be entirely independent, or estranged from each
other. The two races cannot live in the same country,
under the same laws as they now do, and yet be
absolutely independent of each other. There must, there
should, and there will be a mutual dependence, and any
thing that tends to create independence, while it is thus so
manifestly
impossible, can engender strife alone between them. On
the other hand, whatever brings them into closer
relationship, whatever increases their knowledge and
appreciation of fellowship and its positive importance,
must necessarily tend to remove all prejudices, and all
ill-feelings, and bring the two races, and indeed the world,
nearer that degree of perfection to which all things show
us it is approaching. Therefore I want identical rights, for
equal rights may not be sufficient.

“It is for you, Henry, more than any one I know of,
to demonstrate to the world around us, in this part of it at
least (the North), the equality of intellect in the races.
You win by your uprightness and intelligence, and it
cannot be otherwise than that you will gain respect and
confidence.”

Thus a lady correspondent (Miss M. E. H., Durham
Centre, Ct.) encourages, thus she keeps up the desire to
graduate, to demonstrate to the world “the equality of
intellect in the races,” that not color but the want of this
proof in this semi-barbarous people is the obstacle to their
being recognized as social equals. A tremendous task!
Not so much to prove such an equality—for that had
already been abundantly demonstrated—but rather to
show the absurdity and impracticability of prejudice on
account of color; or, in other words, that there is no such
prejudice. It is prejudice on account of non-refinement
and non-education.

As to how far and how well I have discharged that
duty, my readers, and all others who may be in any
manner interested in me, must judge from my narrative
and my career at West Point. Assuring
all that my endeavor has been to act as most becomes a
gentleman, and with Christian forbearance to disregard
all unfriendliness or prejudice, I leave this subject, this
general résumé of my treatment at the hands of the
cadets, and my own conduct, with the desire that it be
criticised impartially if deemed worthy of criticism at all.

“Reporter.—Have you any more colored cadets?

“Captain H—.—Only one—Henry O. Flipper, of
Georgia. He is a well-built lad, a mulatto, and is bright,
intelligent, and studious.

“Reporter.—Do the cadets dislike him as much as
they did Smith?

“Captain H—.—No, sir; I am told that he is more
popular. I have heard of no doubt but that he will get
through all right.”—New York Herald, July, 1874.

CHAPTER XII.
PLEASURES AND PRIVILEGES.

THE privileges allowed cadets during an encampment
are different generally for the different classes. These
privileges are commonly designated by the rank of the
class, such, for instance, as “first-class privileges,”
“third-class privileges,” etc. Privileges which are common
receive their designation from some characteristic in
their nature or purpose. Thus we have “Saturday
afternoon privileges,” and “Old Guard privileges.”

The cadets are encamped and are not supposed to
leave their camp save by permission. This permission is
granted by existing orders, or if for any reason it be
temporarily denied it can be obtained by “permit” for
some specified time. Such permission or privilege
obtained by “permit” for a particular class is known as
“class privileges,” and can be enjoyed only by the class
that submits and gets the permit.

“First-class privileges” permit all members of the first
class to leave camp at any time between troop and
retreat, except when on duty, and to take advantage of
the usual “Saturday afternoon privileges,” which are
allowed all classes and all cadets. These privileges,
however, cannot be enjoyed on the Sabbath by any
except the first-class officers, without special permission.

The usual form of a permit is as follows:

WEST POINT, N. Y., November 6, 1876.

Cadet A— B— C— has permission to walk on public lands
between the hours of 8 A.M. and 4 P.M.

By “Saturday afternoon privileges” is meant the right
or privilege to walk on all public lands within cadet limits
on Saturday afternoon. This includes also the privilege of
visiting the ruins of old Fort Putnam, which is not on
limits. These privileges are allowed throughout the year.

The second class being absent on furlough during the
encampment, of course have no privileges. Should any
member of the class be present during the encampment,
he enjoys “first-class privileges,” unless they are
expressly denied him.

“Third-class privileges” do not differ from “first-class
privileges,” except in that they cannot be taken advantage
of on the Sabbath by any member of the class.

The fourth class as a class have no privileges.

“Old Guard privileges” are certain privileges by
which all members of the “Old Guard” are exempted
from all duty on the day they march off guard until one
o'clock, and are permitted to enjoy privileges similar to
those of Saturday afternoon during the same time. They
also have the privilege of bathing at that time.

The baths are designated as “first,” “second,”
and “third.” The officers and non-commissioned officers
have the first baths, and the privates the others.

Cadets who march off guard on Sunday are restricted
in the enjoyment of their privileges to exemption
from duty on the Sabbath only. They may take
advantage of the other privileges on the following
Monday during the usual time, but are not excused from
any duty. All members of the “Old Guard,” to whatever
class they may belong, are entitled to “Old Guard
privileges.”

Besides these there are other privileges which are
enjoyed by comparatively few. Such are “Hop managers'
privileges.” “Hop managers” are persons elected by their
classmates from the first and third classes for the
management of the hops of the summer. To enable them
to discharge the duties of their office, they are permitted
to leave camp, whenever necessary, by reporting their
departure and return.

Under pleasures, or rather sources of pleasure, may
be enumerated hops, Germans, band practice, and those
incident to other privileges, such as “spooneying,” or
“spooning.” The hops are the chief source of enjoyment,
and take place on Mondays and Fridays, sometimes also
on Wednesdays, at the discretion of the Superintendent.

Germans are usually given on Saturday afternoons,
and a special permit is necessary for every one. These
permits are usually granted, unless there be some duty or
other cause to prevent.

Two evenings of every week are devoted to band
practice, Tuesday evening for practice in camp, and
Thursday evening for practice in front of the
Superintendent's quarters. Of course these
entertainments, if I may so term them, have the effect of
bringing together the young ladies and cadets usually
denied the privilege of leaving camp during the evening. It
is quite reasonable to assume that they enjoy themselves.
On these evenings “class privileges” permit the first- and
third-classmen to be absent from camp till the practice is
over. Sometimes a special permit is necessary. It might
be well to say here, ere I forget it, that Wednesday
evening is devoted to prayer, prayer-meeting being held in
the Dialectic Hall. All cadets are allowed to attend by
reporting their departure and return. The meeting is under
the sole management of the cadets, although they are by
no means the sole participants. Other privileges, more or
less limited, such as the holding of class meetings for
whatever purpose, must be obtained by special permit in
each case.

We have not much longer here to stay,Only a month or two,Then we'll bid farewell to cadet gray,And don the army blue.Army-blue, army blue, we'll don the army blue,We'll bid farewell to cadet gray and don the army blue.To the ladies who come up in June,We'll bid a fond adieu,And hoping they will be married soon,We'll don the army blue.Army blue, army blue, we'll don the army blue,We'll bid farewell to cadet gray and don the army blue.

ADDRESS BY PROFESSOR C. O. THOMPSON,President of the Board of Visitors.

YOUNG GENTLEMEN OF THE GRADUATING CLASS: The
courtesy of your admirable Superintendent forbids a possible breach in an
ancient custom, and lays upon me, as the representative, for the
moment, of the Board of Visitors, the pleasant duty of tendering to you
their congratulations on the close of your academic career, and your
auspicious future.

The people of this country have a heavy stake in the prosperity of
this institution. They recognize it as the very fountain of their
security in war, and the origin of some of their best methods of
education. And upon education in colleges and common schools the
pillars of the State assuredly rest.

To participants and to bystanders, this ceremony of graduation
is as interesting and as exciting as if this were the first, instead of the
seventy-fifth occurrence. Every such occasion is clothed with the
splendor of perpetual youth. The secret of your future success lies in the
impossibility of your entering into the experience of your predecessors.
Every man's life begins with the rising sun. The world would soon
become a frozen waste but for the inextinguishable ardor of youth, which
believes success still to be possible where every attempt has failed.

That courage which avoids rashness by the restraints of knowledge,
and dishonor by the fear of God, is the best hope of the world.

History is not life, but its reflection.

The great armies of modern times which have won immortal
victories have been composed of young men who have turned into
historic acts the strategy of experienced commanders.

To bystanders, for the same and other reasons, the occasion is
profoundly interesting.

For educated men who are true to honor and to righteousness, the
world anxiously waits; but an educated man who is false, the world has
good reason to dread. The best thing that can be said of this
Academy, with its long roll of heroes in war and in peace, is, that
every year the conviction increases among the people of the United
States, that its graduates are men who will maintain, at all hazards, the
simple virtues of a robust manhood—like Chaucer's young Knight,
courteous, lowly, and serviceable.

I welcome you, therefore, to the hardships and perils of a soldier's life
in a time of peace. The noise and the necessities of war drive men in
upon themselves and keep their faculties awake and alert; but the
seductive influence of peace, when a soldier must spend his time in
preparation for the duties of his profession rather than in their practice,
this is indeed a peril to which the horrors of warfare are subordinate. It is
so much easier for men to fight other men than themselves. So much
easier to help govern other men than to wholly govern themselves.

But, young gentlemen, as we have listened to your examination,
shared in your festivities, and enjoyed personal acquaintance with you,
we strongly hope for you every thing lovely, honorable, and of good
report.

You who have chosen the sword, may be helped in some trying hour
of your coming lives by recalling the lesson which is concealed in a
legend of English history. It is the old lesson of the advantage of
knowledge over its more showy counterfeits, and guards against one of
the perils of our American society.

A man losing his way on a hillside, strayed into a chamber full of
enchanted knights, each lying motionless, in complete armor, with his
horse standing motionless beside him. On a rock near the entrance lay a
sword and a horn, and the intruder was told that he must choose between
these, if he would lead the army. He chose the horn, and blew a loud blast;
whereupon the knights and their horses vanished in a whirlwind, and their
visitor was blown back into common air, these words sounding after him
upon the wind:

“Cursed be the coward, that ever he was born,Who did not draw the sword before he blew the horn.”

Young gentlemen, the Board of Visitors can have no better wish for
our common country than that your future will fulfil the promise of the
present.

ADDRESS BY MAJOR-GENERAL W. S. HANCOCK.

To me has been assigned the pleasant duty of welcoming into the
service as commissioned officers, the Graduates of the Military Academy
of to-day.

Although much time has elapsed since my graduation here, and
by contact with the rugged cares of life some of the sharp edges of
recollection may have become. dulled, yet I have not lived long enough
to have forgotten the joy of that bright period. You only experience it
to-day as I have felt it before you.

I have had some experience of life since, and it might be worth
something to you were I to relate it. But youth is self-confident and
impatient, and you may at present doubt the wisdom of listening to
sermons which you can learn at a later day.

You each feel that you have the world in a sling, and that it would
be wearisome to listen to the croakings of the past, and especially from
those into whose shoes you soon expect to step. That is the rule of life.
The child growing into manhood, believes that its judgment is better
than the knowledge of its parents; and yet if that experience was duly
considered, and its unselfish purposes believed in, many shoals would be
avoided, otherwise certain to be met with in the journey of life, by the
inexperienced but confident navigator.

You should not forget that there were as bright intellects, and men
who possessed equal elements of greatness in past generations as in this,
and that deeds have been performed in earlier times which, at best, the
men of the present day can only hope to rival. Why then should we not
profit by the experiences of the past; and as our lives are shot at best,
instead of following the ruts of our predecessors, start on the road of life
where they left off, and not continue to repeat their failures? I cannot
say why, unless it proceeds from the natural buoyancy of youth, self-
confidence in its ability to overcome all obstacles, and to carve out
futures more dazzling than any successes of the past. In this there is a
problem for you to solve. Yet I may do well by acknowledging to you,
to-day, that after an active military life of no mean duration, soldiers of
my length of service feel convinced that they might have learned
wisdom by listening to the experience of those who preceded them. Had
they been prepared to assume that experience as a fact at starting, and
made departures from it, instead of disregarding it, in the idea that there
was nothing worthy of note to be learned from a study of the past, it
would be safe to assume that they would have made greater advances in
their day.

Were I to give you my views in extenso, applicable to the occasion, I
could only repeat what has been well and vigorously said here by
distinguished persons in the past, in your hearing, on occasions of the
graduation of older classes than your own.

You are impatient, doubtless, as I was in your time, and if you have
done as my class did before you, you have already thrown your books
away, and only await the moment of the conclusion of these ceremonies
to don the garb of the officer or the civilian. The shell of the cadet is
too contracted to contain your impatient spirits. Nevertheless, if you
will listen but for a few minutes to the relation of an old soldier, I will
repeat of the lessons of experience a few of those most worthy of your
consideration.

There is but one comrade of my class remaining in active service to-day,
and I think I might as truly have said the same ten years ago.

In the next thirty years, those of you who live will see that your
numbers have become sensibly reduced, if not in similar proportion.

Some will have studied, have kept up with the times, been ready for
service at the hour of their country's call, been prepared to accomplish
the purposes for which their education was given to them.

Some will have sought the active life of the frontiers, and been also
ready to perform their part in the hour of danger.

A few will have seized the passing honors.

It may have depended much upon opportunity among those who
were well equipped for the occasion, who gained the greatest distinction;
but it cannot for a moment be doubted that the roll of honor in the
future of this class will never again stand as it stands to-day.

It will be a struggle of life to determine who among you will keep
their standing in the contest for future honors and distinctions.

You who have been the better students here, and possessed the
greater natural qualities, have a start in the race; but industry, study,
perseverance, and other qualities will continue to be important factors in
the future, as they have been in the past.

Through continuous mental, moral, and physical development, with
progress in the direction of your profession and devotion to duty, lies
the road to military glory; and it may readily come to pass that “the
race will not be to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,” as you regard
your classmates to-day.

It must be admitted, however, that great leaders are born.

A rare combination of natural qualities causes men to develop
greatness. Education and training make them greater; nevertheless, men
with fewer natural qualities often succeed, with education and training,
when those more richly endowed fail to reach the
higher places, and you have doubtless witnessed that in your experience
here.

A man in a great place in modern times is not respectable without
education. That man must be a God to command modern armies
successfully without it; yet war is a great school; men learn quickly by
experience, and in long wars there will be found men of natural abilities
who will appear at the front. It will be found, however, in the long run,
that the man who has prepared himself to make the best use of his
natural talents will win in the race, if he has the opportunity, while
others of equal or greater natural parts may fail from lack of that mental
and moral training necessary to win the respect of those they command.

Towards the close of our civil war, men came to the front rank who
entered the service as privates. They were men of strong natural
qualities. How far the best of them would have proceeded had the war
continued, cannot be told; but it may be safely assumed that if they
possessed the moral qualities and the education necessary to command
the respect of the armies with which they were associated, they would
have won the highest honors; and yet our war lasted but four years.

Some of them had the moral qualities, some the education; and I
have known of those men who thus came forward, some who would
certainly have reached the highest places in a long race, had they had
the training given to you.

War gives numerous opportunities for distinction, and especially to
those who in peace have demonstrated that they would be available in
war; and soldiers can win distinction in both peace and war if they will
but seize their opportunities.

“There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads
on to victory.”

Great responsibilities in time of danger are not given to the ignorant,
the slothful, or to those who have impaired their powers of mind or body
by the indulgences of life. In times of danger favorites are discarded.
When work is to be done, deeds to be performed, men of action have
their opportunities and fail not to seize them. It is the interest of
commanders that such men should be selected for service, when success
or failure may follow, according to the wisdom of the selection, as the
instrument may be—sharp or dull, good or bad.

I would say to you, lead active, temperate, studious lives, develop
your physical qualities as well as mental. Regard the education
acquired here as but rudimentary; pursue your studies in the line of
your profession and as well in such other branches of science or language
as may best accord with your inclinations. It will make you greater in
your profession and cause you to be independent of it. The latter is but
prudent in these practical days.

Study to lead honorable, useful, and respected lives. Even if no
opportunity presents for martial glory you will not fail to find your
reward.

Avoid the rocks of dissipation, of gambling, of debt; lead those
manly lives which will always find you in health in mind and body, free
from entanglements of whatever kind, and you may be assured you will
find your opportunities for great services, when otherwise you would
have been overlooked or passed by. Such men are known and appreciated
in every army and out of it.

Knowledge derived from books may bring great distinction outside of
the field of war, as an expert in the lessons of the military profession and
in others, but the lessons of hard service are salutary and necessary to
give the soldier a practical understanding of the world and its ways as he
will encounter them in war. I would advise you to go when young to the
plains—to the wilderness—seek active service there, put off the days of indulgence and of ease. Those should follow years.

Take with you to the frontier your dog, your rod and gun; the pursuit
of a life in the open air with such adjuncts will go far to give you health
and the vigor to meet the demands to be made upon you in trying
campaigns, and to enable you to establish the physical condition
necessary to maintain a life of vigor such as a soldier requires. You will
by these means, too, avoid many of the temptations incident to an idle
life—all calculated to win you from your usefulness in the future, and by
no means leave your books behind you.

When I graduated, General Scott, thinking possibly to do me a
service, asked me to what regiment I desired to be assigned; I replied, to
the regiment stationed at the most western post in the United States. I
was sent to the Indian Territory of to-day. We had not then acquired
California or New Mexico, and our western boundary north of Texas was
the one hundredth degree of longitude.

I know that that early frontier service and the opportunities for
healthy and vigorous out-door exercise were of great advantage to me in
many ways, and would have been more so had I followed the advice in
reference to study that I have given to you.

There are many “extreme western” posts to-day. It is difficult to say
which is the most western in the sense of that day, when the Indian
frontiers did not as now, lie in the circumference of an inner circle; but
the Yellowstone will serve your purpose well. And if any of you wish to
seek that service your taste will not be difficult to gratify, for the
hardest lessons will be certain to be avoided by many. There will be
those who in the days of youth will seek the softer places. They may
have their appropriate duties there and do their parts well, but it may be
considered a safe maxim that the indulgence of the present will have to
be paid for in the future A man may not acquire greatness by pursuing
religiously the course I have indicated as the best, but it will be safe to
assume that when the roll of honor of your class is called after a length
of service equal to mine, but few, if any of your number, will have done
their part well in public estimation save of those who shall have pretty
closely followed these safe rules of life.

Gentlemen, I bid you welcome.

ADDRESS BY HON. G. W. McCRARY,Secretary of War.

GENTLEMEN OF THE GRADUATING CLASS: Although not a part of
the programme arranged for these exercises, I cannot refuse to say a
word by way of greeting, and I would make it as hearty and
earnest as possible to you, gentlemen, one and all, upon this occasion, so
interesting to you as well is to the entire army, and to the people of the
whole country.

There are others here who will speak to you as soldiers, to whom you
will listen, and from whom you will receive all counsel and admonition
as coming from men who have distinguished themselves in the command
of the greatest armies the world has ever seen, and by the achievement
of some of the grandest victories recorded upon the pages of history.

I would speak to you as a citizen; and as such, I desire to assure you
that you are to-day the centre of a general interest pervading every part
of our entire country. It is not the army alone that is interested in the
graduating class of 1877. West Point Military Academy, more than any
other institution in the land—far more—is a national institution—one in which we have a national pride.

It is contrary to the policy of this country to keep in time of
peace a large standing army We have adopted what I think is a wiser and
better policy—that of educating a large number of young men in the
science of arms, so that they may be ready when the time of danger
comes. You will go forth from this occasion with your commissions as
Second Lieutenants in the army; but I see, and I know that the country
sees, that if war should come, and large armies should be organized and
marshalled, we have here seventy-six young gentlemen, any one of
whom can command not only a company, but a brigade; and I think I
may say a division, or an army corps.

The experience of the past teaches that I do not exaggerate when I
say this. At all events, such is the theory upon which our government
proceeds, and it is expected that every man who is educated in this
institution, whether he remains in the ranks of the army or not,
wherever he may be found and called upon, shall come and draw his
sword in defence of his country and her flag.

It is a happy coincidence that one hundred years ago to-day, on the
14th of June, 1777, the Continental Congress passed the act which fixed
our national emblem as the stars and stripes. It is a happy coincidence
that you graduate upon the anniversary of the passage of that act—the
centennial birthday of the stars and stripes. I do not know that it will add
any thing to your love of the flag and of your country. I doubt whether
any thing would add to that; but I refer to this coincidence with great
pleasure.

Gentlemen of the Graduating Class: I am not qualified to instruct you
in your duties as soldiers, but these is one thing I may say to you, because
it ought to be said to every graduating class, and to all young men
about to enter upon the active duties of life, and that is, that the
profession does not ennoble the man, but the man ennobles the
profession Behind the soldier is the man.

Character, young men, is every thing; without it, your education is
nothing; without it, your country will be disappointed in you. Go forth
into life, then, firmly resolved to be true, not only to the flag of your
country, not only to the institutions of the land, not only to the Union
which our fathers established, and which the blood of our countrymen
has cemented, but to be true to yourselves and the principles of honor,
of rectitude, of temperance, of virtue, which have always characterized
the great and successful soldier, and must always characterize such a
soldier in the future.

ADDRESS BY MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD,Superintendent U. S. Military Academy.

GENTLEMEN OF THE GRADUATING CLASS: The agreeable
duty now devolves upon me of delivering to you the diplomas which the
Academic Board have awarded you as Graduates of the Military
Academy.

These diplomas you have fairly won by your ability, your industry,
and your obedience to discipline. You receive them, not as favors from
any body, but as the just and lawful reward of honest and persistent
effort.

You have merited, and are about to receive, the highest honors
attainable by young men in our country. You have won these honors by
hard work and patient endurance, and you are thus prepared to prize
them highly. Unless thus fairly won, honors, like riches, are of little
value.

As you learn, with advancing years, to more fully appreciate the
value in life of the habits you have acquired of self-reliance,
long-sustained effort, obedience to discipline, and respect for lawful
authority, a value greater even than that of the scientific knowledge you
have gained, you will more and more highly prize the just reward which
you are to-day found worthy to receive.

You are now prepared to enter upon an honorable career in the great
arena of the world. The West Point Diploma has ever been a passport to
public respect, and to the confidence of government. But such respect
and confidence imply corresponding responsibilities. The honor of West
Point and that of the army are now in your keeping; and your country is
entitled to the best services, intellectual, moral, and physical, which it
may be in your power to render.

That you may render such services, do not fail to pursue your
scientific studies, that you may know the laws of nature, and make her
forces subservient to the public welfare. Study carefully the history,
institutions, and laws of your country, that you may be able to see and to
defend what is lawful and right in every emergency. Study not only the
details of your profession, but the highest principles of the art of war,
You may one day be called to the highest responsibility. And, above all,
be governed in all things by those great moral principles which have been
the guide of great and good men in all ages and in all countries. Without
such guide the greatest genius can do only evil to mankind.

One of your number, under temptation which has sometimes proved
too great for even much older soldiers, committed a breach of discipline
for which he was suspended. The Honorable Secretary of War has been
kindly pleased to remit the penalty, so that your classmate may take his
place among you according to his academic rank.

You have to regret the absence of one of your number, who has been
prevented by extreme illness from pursuing the studies of the last year.
But I am glad to say that Mr. Barnett has so far recovered that he will be
able to return to the Academy, and take his place in the next class.

Another member of the class has been called away by the death of
his father, but he had passed his examination, and will graduate with you.
His diploma will be sent to him.

With the single exception, then, above mentioned, I have the
satisfaction of informing you that you graduate with the ranks of your
class unbroken.

We take leave of you, gentlemen, not only with hope, but with full
confidence that you will acquit yourselves well in the honorable career
now before you. We give you our parental blessing, with fervent wishes
for your prosperity, happiness, and honor.

Loud applause greeted the close of the general's speech, and the
graduates were then called up one by one and their diplomas delivered to
them. The first to step forward was Mr. William M. Black, of Lancaster,
Penn., whose career at the Academy has been remarkable. He has stood
at the head of his class for the whole four years, actually distancing all
competitors. He is a young man of signal ability, won his appointment in
a competitive examination, and has borne himself with singular modesty
and good sense. During the past year he has occupied the position of
Adjutant of the Corps of Cadets—the highest post which can be held.
General Sherman shook hands with the father of the young cadet—a
grand-looking old gentleman, and very proud of his son, as he has a right to
be—and warmly congratulated him on the brilliant career which was before
the young man. The next on the list was Mr. Walter F. Fisk. When Mr.
Flipper, the colored cadet, stepped forward, and received the reward of
four years of as hard work and unflinching courage and perseverance as
any young man could be called upon to go through, the crowd of
spectators gave him a round of hearty applause. He deserves it. Any one
who knows how quietly and bravely this young man—the first of his
despised race to graduate at
West Point—has borne the difficulties of his position; how for four
years he has had to stand apart from his classmates as one with them
but not of them; and to all the severe work of academic official life
has had added the yet more severe mental strain which bearing up
against a cruel social ostracism puts on any man; and knowing that
he has done this without getting soured, or losing courage for a
day—any one, I say, who knows all this would be
inclined to say that the
young man deserved to be well taken care of by the government he
is bound to serve. Everybody here who has watched his course
speaks in terms of admiration of the unflinching courage he has
shown. No cadet will go away with heartier wishes for his future
welfare.

When the last of the diplomas had been given, the line reformed, the
band struck up a lively tune, the cadets marched to the front of the
barracks, and there Cadet Black, the Adjutant, read the orders of the day,
they being the standing of the students in their various classes, the list of
new officers, etc. This occupied some time, and at its conclusion Colonel
Neil, Commandant of Cadets, spoke a few kind words to the First
Class, wished them all success in life, and then formally dismissed
them.

At the close of the addresses the Superintendent of the Academy
delivered the diplomas to the following cadets, members of the
Graduating Class. The names are alphabetically arranged :

OF all privileges or sources of pleasure which tend to
remove the monotony of military life, there are none to
which the stripling soldier looks forward with more delight
than furlough. Indeed it is hard to say which is the
stronger emotion that we experience when we first
receive information of our appointment to a cadetship, or
that which comes upon us when we are apprised that a
furlough has been granted us. Possibly the latter is the
stronger feeling. It is so with some, with those, at least,
who received the former announcement with
indifference, as many do, accepting it solely to please a
mother, or father, or other friend or relative. With
whatever feeling, or for whatever reason the appointment
may have been accepted, it is certain that all are equally
anxious to take advantage of their furlough when the time
comes. This is made evident in a multitude of ways.

A furlough is granted to those only who have been
present at two annual examinations at least, and by and
with the consent of a parent or guardian if a minor.

Immediately after January next preceding their
second annual examination, the furloughmen, as they are
called, have class meetings, or rather furlough meetings,
to celebrate the “good time coming.”
They hold them almost weekly, and they are devoted to
music, jesting, story-telling, and to general jollification. It can
be well imagined with what joy a cadet looks forward to his
furlough. It is the only interruption in the monotony of his
Academy life, and it is to him for that very reason extremely
important. During all this time, and even long before January,
the furloughmen are accustomed to record the state of affairs
respecting their furlough by covering every available
substance that will bear a pencil or chalk mark with numerous
inscriptions, giving the observer some such information as this:
“100 days to furlough,” “75 days to furlough,” “only two months before furlough,” and thus even to the day before
they actually leave.

The crowning moment of all is the moment when the order
granting furloughs is published.

I am sure my happiest moment at West Point, save when I
grasped my “sheepskin” for the first time, was when I heard
my name read in the list. It was a most joyous announcement.
To get away from West Point, to get out among friends who
were not ashamed nor afraid to be friends, could not be other
than gratifying. It was almost like beginning a new life, a new
career, and as I looked back from the deck of the little ferryboat
my feelings were far different from what they were two years
before.

My furlough was something more than an interruption
of my ordinary mode of life for the two
years previous. It was a complete change from a
life of isolation to one precisely opposite. And of
course I enjoyed it the more on that account.

The granting of furloughs is entirely discretionary
with the Superintendent. It may be denied altogether, but
usually is not, except as punishment for some grave offence.

It is customary to detain for one, two, three, or even more
days those who have demerits exceeding a given number for a
given time. The length of their leave is therefore shortened by
just so many days.

There are a number of customs observed by the cadets
which I shall describe here.

To disregard these customs is to show—at least it is so
construed—a want of pride. To say that this or that “is
customary,” is quite sufficient to warrant its conception and
execution. Among these customs the following may be
mentioned:

To begin with the fourth class. Immediately after their first
semi-annual examination the class adopts a class crest or
motto, which appears on all their stationery, and often on many
other things. To have class stationary is a custom that is never
overlooked. Each class chooses its own design, which usually
bears the year in which the class will graduate.

Class stationary is used throughout the period of one's
cadetship.

In the early spring, the first, second, and third classes elect
hop managers, each class choosing a given number. This is
preparatory to the hop given by the second to the graduating
class as a farewell token. This custom is rigorously kept up.

Next to these are customs peculiar to the first class. They
are never infringed upon by other classes, nor disregarded
even by the first class.

First, prior to graduation it is an invariable custom of the
graduating class to adopt and procure,
each of them, a class ring. This usually bears the year of
graduation, the letters U. S. M. A., or some other military
character.

This ring is the signet that binds the class to their Alma
Mater, and to each other. It is to be in after years the souvenir
that is to recall one's cadet life, and indeed every thing
connected with a happy and yet dreary part of one's career.

The class album also is intended for the same purpose. It
contains the “smiling shadows” of classmates, comrades, and
scenes perhaps never more to be visited or seen after parting at
graduation. Oh! what a feeling of sadness, of weariness of life
even, must come upon him who in after years opens his album
upon those handsome young faces, and there silently
compares their then lives with what succeeding years have
revealed! Who does not, would not grieve to recall the sad
tidings that have come anon and filled one's heart and being
with portentous gloom? This, perhaps a chum, an especial
favorite, or at any rate a classmate, has fallen under a rude
savage warfare while battling for humanity, without the
advantages or the glory of civilized war, but simply with the
consciousness of duty properly done. That one, perchance,
has fallen bravely, dutifully, without a murmur of regret, and
this one, alas! where is he? Has he, too, perished, or does he
yet remember our gladsome frolics at our beloved Alma Mater.
My mind shudders, shrinks from the sweet and yet sad
anticipations of the years I have not seen and may perhaps
never see. But there is a sweetness, a fondness that makes me
linger longingly upon the thought of those unborn days.

CHAPTER XIV.
INCIDENT, HUMOR, ETC.

IT may not be inappropriate to give in this place a few—as
many as I can recall—of the incidents, more or less
humorous, in which I myself have taken part or have
noticed at the various times of their occurrence. First,
then, an adventure on “Flirtation.”

During the encampment of 1873—I think it was in July—
Smith and myself had the—for us—rare enjoyment of a visit
made us by some friends. We had taken them around the
place and shown and explained to them every thing of
interest. We at length took seats on “Flirtation,” and
gave ourselves up to pure enjoyment such as is found in
woman's presence only. The day was exceedingly
beautiful; all nature seemed loveliest just at that time, and
our lone, peculiar life, with all its trials and cares, was
quite forgotten. We chatted merrily, and as ever in such
company were really happy. It was so seldom we had
visitors—and even then they were mostly males—that we
were delighted to have some one with whom we could
converse on other topics than official ones and studies.
While we sat there not a few strangers, visitors also,
passed us, and almost invariably manifested surprise at
seeing us.

I do think uncultivated white people are
unapproachable in downright rudeness, and yet, alas!
they are our superiors. Will prejudice ever be obliterated
from the minds of the people? Will man ever cease to
prejudge his fellow-being for color's sake alone?
Grant, O merciful God, that he may!

But au fait! Anon a cadet, whose perfectly fitting
uniform of matchless gray and immaculate white revealed
the symmetry of his form in all its manly beauty, saunters
leisurely by, his head erect, shoulders back, step quick
and elastic, and those glorious buttons glittering at their
brilliant points like so many orbs of a distant stellar world.
Next a plebe strolls wearily along, his drooping shoulders,
hanging head, and careless gait bespeaking the need of
more squad drill. Then a dozen or more “picnicers,” all
females, laden with baskets, boxes, and other et ceteras,
laughing and playing, unconscious of our proximity, draw
near. The younger ones tripping playfully in front catch
sight of us. Instantly they are hushed, and with hands
over their mouths retrace their steps to disclose to those
in rear their astounding discovery. In a few moments all
appear, and silently and slowly pass by, eyeing us as if we
were the greatest natural wonder in existence. They pass
on till out of sight, face about and “continue the motion,”
passing back and forth as many as five times. Wearied at
length of this performance, Smith rose and said, “Come,
let's end this farce,” or something to that effect. We
arose, left the place, and were surprised to find a moment
after that they were actually following us.

The “Picnicers,” as they are called in the corps,
begin their excursions early in May, and continue
them till near the end of September. They manage to
arrive at West Point at all possible hours of the day, and
stay as late as they conveniently can. In May and
September, when we have battalion drills, they are a
great nuisance, a great annoyance to me especially. The
vicinity of that flank of the battalion in which I was, was
where they “most did congregate.” It was always
amusing, though most embarrassing, to see them pointing
me out to each other, and to hear their verbal
accompaniments, “There he is, the first”—or such—“man
from the right”—“or left.” “Who?” “The colored cadet.”
“Haven't you seen him? Here, I'll show him to you,” and
so on ad libitum.

All through this encampment being “—young; a novice
in the trade,” I seldom took advantage of Old Guard
privileges, or any other, for the reason that I was not
accustomed to such barbarous rudeness, and did not care
to be the object of it.

It has always been a wonder to me why people
visiting at West Point should gaze at me so persistently
for no other reason than curiosity. What there was
curious or uncommon about me I never knew. I was not
better formed, nor more military in my bearing than all
the other cadets. My uniform did not fit better, was not of
better material, nor did it cost more than that of the
others. Yet for four years, by each and every visitor at
West Point who saw me, it was done. I know not why,
unless it was because I was in it.

There is an old man at Highland Falls, N. Y., who is
permitted to peddle newspapers at West Point. He
comes up every Sabbath, and all are made aware of his
presence by his familiar cry, “Sunday news! Sunday
news!” Indeed, he is generally known and called by the
soubriquet, “Sunday News.”

He was approaching my tent one Sunday afternoon
but was stopped by a cadet who called out to him from
across the company street, “Don't sell your papers to
them niggers!” This kind advice was not heeded.

This and subsequent acts of a totally different
character lead me to believe that there is not so much
prejudice in the corps as is at first apparent. A general
dislike for the negro had doubtless grown up in this
cadet's mind from causes which are known to everybody
at all acquainted with affairs at West Point about that
time, summer of 1873. On several occasions during my
second and third years I was the grateful recipient of
several kindnesses at the hands of this same cadet, thus
proving most conclusively that it was rather a cringing
disposition, a dread of what others might say, or this
dislike of the negro which I have mentioned, that caused
him to utter those words, and not a prejudiced dislike of
“them niggers,” for verily I had won his esteem.

Just after returning from this encampment to our
winter quarters, I had another adventure with Smith, my
chum, and Williams, which cost me dearly.

It was just after “evening call to quarters.” I knew
Smith and Williams were in our room. I had
been out for some purpose, and was returning when it
occurred to me to have some fun at their expense. I
accordingly walked up to the door—our “house” was at
the head of the stairs and on the third floor—and knocked,
endeavoring to imitate as much as possible an officer
inspecting. They sprang to their feet instantly, assumed
the position of the soldier, and quietly awaited my
entrance. I entered laughing. They resumed their seats
with a promise to repay me, and they did, for alas! I was
“hived.” Some cadet reported me for “imitating a tactical
officer inspecting.” For this I was required to walk three
tours of extra guard duty on three consecutive Saturdays,
and to serve, besides, a week's confinement in my
quarters. The “laugh” was thus, of course, turned on me.

During the summer of '74, in my “yearling camp,” I
made another effort at amusement, which was as
complete a failure as the attempt with Smith and
Williams. I had been reported by an officer for some
trifling offence. It was most unexpected to me, and least
of all from this particular officer. I considered the report
altogether uncalled for, but was careful to say nothing to
that effect. I received for the offence one or two
demerits. A short while afterwards, being on guard, I
happened to be posted near his tent. Determined on a bit
of revenge, and fun too, at half-past eleven o'clock at
night I placed myself near his tent, and called off in the
loudest tone I could command, “No.——half-past eleven
o'clock, and all-l-l-l's well-l-l!” It woke him. He arose,
came to the front of his tent, and called me
back to him. I went, and he ordered me to call the
corporal. I did so. When the corporal came he told him to
“report the sentinel on No.—for calling off
improperly.” If I mistake not, I was also reported for not
calling off at 12 P.M. loud enough to be heard by the next
sentinel. Thus my bit of revenge recoiled twofold upon
myself, and I soon discovered that I had been paying too
dear for my whistle.

On another occasion during the same camp I heard a
cadet say he would submit to no order or command of, nor
permit himself to be marched anywhere by “the nigger,”
meaning myself. We were in the same company, and it so
happened at one time that we were on guard the same
day, and that I was the senior member of our company
detail. When we marched off the next day the officer of
the guard formed the company details to the front, and
directed the senior member of each fifteen to march it to
its company street and dismiss it. I instantly stepped to
front and assumed command. I marched it as far as the
color line at “support arms;” brought them to a “carry”
there and saluted the colors. When we were in the
company street, I commanded in loud and distinct tone,
“Trail arms! Break ranks! March!” A cadet in a tent near
by recognized my voice, and hurried out into the company
street. Meeting the cadet first mentioned above, he thus
asked of him:

“Did that nigger march you in?”

“Yes-es, the nigger marched us in,” speaking slowly
and drawling it out as if he had quite lost the power of
speech.

At the following semi-annual examination (January, '75),
the gentleman was put on the “retired list,” or rather
on the list of “blasted hopes.” I took occasion to record
the event in the following manner, changing of course the
names:

FAILED.
SCENE.—Hall of Cadet Barracks at West Point. Characters: RANSOM
and MARS, both Cadets. RANSOM, who has been “found” at recent
semiannual examination, meets his more successful chum, MARS, on
the stoop. After a moment's conversation, they enter the hall.MARS (as they enter).Ah! how! what say? Found! Art going away?Unfortunate rather! 'm sorry! but stay!Who hadst thou? How didst thou? Badly, I'm sure.Hadst done well they had not treated thee so.RANSOM (sadly).Thou sayest aright. I did do my best,Which was but poorly I can but confess.The subject was hard. I could no betterUnless I'd memorized to the letter.MARS.Art unfortunate! but tho' 'twere amissMe half thinks e'en that were better than this.Thou couldst have stood the trial, if no moreThan to come out low. That were better, 'm sure.RANSOM.But 'tis too late. 'Twas but an afterthought,Which now methinks at most is worth me naught;Le sort en est jetté, they say, you know;'Twere idle to dream and still think of woe.MARS.Thou sayest well! Yield not to one rebuff.Thou'rt a man, show thyself of manly stuff.The bugle calls! I must away! Adieu!May Fortune grant, comrade, good luck to you!(They shake hands, MARS hurries out to answer the bugle call.
RANSOM prepares for immediate departure for home.)

“O dear! it is hawid to have this cullud cadet—perfectly
dre'fful. I should die to see my Geawge standing next to
him.” Thus did one of your models of womankind, one of
the negro's superiors, who annually visit West Point to
flirt, give vent to her opinion of the “cullud cadet,” an
opinion thought out doubtless with her eyes, and for
which she could assign no reason other than that some of
her acquaintances, manifestly cadets, concurred in it,
having perhaps so stated to her. And the cadets, with
their accustomed gallantry, have ever striven to evade
“standing next to him.” No little amusement—for such it
was to me—has been afforded me by the many ruses
they have adopted to prevent it. Some of them have been
extremely ridiculous, and in many cases highly
unbecoming a cadet and a gentleman.

While I was a plebe, I invariably fell in in the rear
rank along with the other plebes. This is a necessary and
established custom. As soon as I became a
third-classman, and had a right to fall in in the front rank
whenever necessary or convenient, they became uneasy,
and began their plans for keeping me from that rank. The
first sergeant of my company did me the honor of visiting
me at my quarters and politely requested me—not order
me, for he had no possible authority for such an act—to fall
in invariably on the right of the rear rank. To keep down
trouble and to avoid any show of presumption or
forwardness on my part, as I had been advised by an
officer, I did as he requested, taking my place on the right
of the rear rank at every formation of the company for
another whole year. But with all this
condescension on my part I was still the object of
solicitous care. My falling in there did not preclude the
possibility of my own classmates, now also risen to the
dignity of third-classmen, falling in next to me. To
perfect his plan, then, the first sergeant had the senior
plebe in the company call at his “house,” and take from
the roster an alphabetical list of all the plebes in the
company. With this he (the senior plebe) was to keep a
special roster, detailing one of his own classmates to fall
in next to me. Each one detailed for such duty was to
serve one week—from Sunday morning breakfast to
Sunday morning breakfast. The keeper of the roster was
not of course to be detailed.

It is astonishing how little care was taken to conceal
this fact from me. The plan, etc., was formed in my
hearing, and there seems to have been no effort or even desire
to hide it from me. Returning from supper one evening, I
distinctly heard this plebe tell the sergeant that “Mr.—refused to serve.”
“You tell him,” said the sergeant, “I want to see him at my ‘house’ after supper. If he doesn't serve I'll
make it so hot for him he'll wish he'd never heard of
West Point.”

Is it not strange how these models of mankind, these
our superiors, strive to thrust upon each other what they
do not want themselves? It is a meanness, a baseness, an
unworthiness from which I should shrink. It would be
equally astonishing that men ever submit to it, were it not
that they are plebes, and therefore thus easily imposed
upon. The plebe in this case at length submitted.

When I became a second-classman, no difference
was made by the cadets in their manner of falling in,
whether because their scruples were overcome or
because no fitting means presented themselves for
avoiding it, I know not. If they happened to be near me
when it was time to fall in, they fell in next to me.

In the spring of '76, our then first sergeant ordered us
to fall in at all formations as nearly according to size as
possible. As soon as this order was given, for some
unknown reason, the old régime was readopted. If I
happened to fall in next to a first-classman, and he
discovered it, or if a first-classman fell in next to me, and
afterward found it out, he would fall out and go to the
rear. The second and third-classmen, for no other reason
than that first-classmen did it, “got upon their dignity,
and refused to stand next to me. We see here a good
illustration of that cringing, “bone-popularity” spirit
which I have mentioned elsewhere.

The means of prevention adopted now were
somewhat different from those of a year before. A
file-closer would watch and follow me closely, and when I
fell in would put a plebe on each side of me. It was really
amusing sometimes to see his eagerness, and quite as
amusing, I may add, to see his dismay when I would
deliberately leave the place thus hemmed in by plebes and
fall in elsewhere.

We see here again that cringing disposition to which I
believe the whole of the ill-treatment of colored cadets
has been due. The file-closers are usually second-class
sergeants and third-class corporals. By way of “boning
popularity” with the upper classmen, they stoop to almost
any thing. In
this case they hedged me in between the two plebes to
prevent upper classmen from falling in next to me.

But it may be asked why I objected to having plebes
next to me. I would answer, for several reasons. Under
existing circumstances of prejudice, it was of the utmost
importance to me to keep them away from me. First—and
by no means the least important reason—to put them in the
front rank was violating a necessary and established
custom. The plebes are put in the rear rank because of
their inexperience and general ignorance of the principles
of marching, dressing, etc. If they are in the front rank, it
would simply be absurd to expect good marching of them.
A second reason, and by far the most important, results
directly from this one. Being between two plebes, who
would not, could not keep dressed, it would be impossible
for me to do so. The general alignment of the company
would be destroyed. There would be crowding and
opening out of the ranks, and it would all originate in my
immediate vicinity. The file-closers, never over-scrupulous
when I was concerned, and especially when
they could forward their own “popularity-boning”
interests, would report me for these disorders in the
company. I would get demerits and punishment for what
the plebes next to me were really responsible for. The
plebes would not be reported, because if they were their
inexperience would plead strongly in their favor, and any
reasonable explanation of an offence would suffice to
insure its removal. I was never overfond of demerits or
punishments, and therefore strenuously opposed any
thing that might
give me either; for instance, having plebes put next to me in
ranks.

Toward the end of the year the plebes, having learned more
about me and the way the corps looked upon me, became as
eager to avoid me as the others. Not, however, all the plebes,
for there were some who, when they saw others trying to avoid
falling in next to me, would deliberately come and take their
places there. These plebes, or rather yearlings now, were better
disciplined, and, of course, my own scruples vanished.

During the last few months of the year no distinction was
made, save by one or two high-toned ones.

When the next class of plebes were put in the battalion, the
old cadets began to thrust them into the front rank next to me.
At first I was indignant, but upon second thought I determined
to tolerate it until I should be reported for some offence which
was really an offence of the plebes. I intended to then explain
the case, à priori, in my written explanation to the commandant.
I knew such a course would cause a discontinuance of the
practice, which was plainly malicious and contrary to
regulations. Fortunately, however, for all concerned, the affair
was noticed by an officer, and by him summarily discontinued. I
was glad of this, for the other course would have made the
cadets more unfriendly, and would have made my condition
even worse than it was. Thereafter I had no further trouble with
the plebes.

One day, during my yearling camp, when I happened
to be on guard, a photographer, wishing a view
of the guard, obtained permission to make the necessary
negative. As the officer of the day desired to be “took”
with the guard, he came down to the guard tents, and the
guard was “turned out” for him by the sentinel. He did
not wish it then, and accordingly so indicated by saluting.
I was sitting on a camp-stool in the shade reading. A few
minutes after the officer of the day came. I heard the
corporal call out, “Fall in the guard.” I hurried for my gun,
and passing near and behind the officer of the day, I
heard him say to the corporal :

“Say, can't you get rid of that nigger? We don't want
him in the picture.”

The corporal immediately ordered me to fetch a pail
of water. As he had a perfect right to thus order me,
being for the time my senior officer, I proceeded to obey.
While taking the pail the officer of the day approached
me and most politely asked:
“Going for water, Mr. Flipper?”

I told him I was.

“That's right,” continued he; “do hurry. I'm nearly
dead of thirst.”

It is simply astonishing to see how these young men
can stoop when they want any thing. A cadet of the
second class—when I was in the third class—was once
arrested for a certain offence, and, from the nature of the
charge, was likely to be court-martialed. His friends made
preparation for his defence. As I was not ten feet from
him at the time specified in the charge, my evidence
would be required in the event of a trial. I was therefore
visited by one of his friends. He brought paper and pencil
and made a memorandum of what I had to say. The cadet
himself had the limits of his arrest extended
and then visited me in person. We conversed quite a
while on the subject, and, as my evidence would be in his
favor, I promised to give it in case he was tried. He
thanked me very cordially, asked how I was getting along
in my studies, expressed much regret at my being
ostracized, wished me all sorts of success, and again
thanking me took his leave.

There is an article in the academic regulations which
provides or declares that no citizen who has been a cadet
at the Military Academy can receive a commission in the
regular army before the class of which he was a member
graduates, unless he can get the written consent of his
former classmates.

A classmate of mine resigned in the summer of '75,
and about a year after endeavored to get a commission.
A friend and former classmate drew up the approval, and
invited the class to his “house” to sign it. When
half a dozen or more had signed it, it was sent to the
guard-house, and the corporal of the guard came and notified
me it was there for my consideration. I went to the guard-
house at once. A number of cadets were sitting or
standing around in the room. As soon as I entered they
became silent and remained so, expecting, no doubt, I'd
refuse to sign it, because of the treatment I had received
at their hands. They certainly had little cause to expect
that I would add my signature. Nevertheless I read the
paper over and signed it without hesitation. Their anxiety
was raised to the highest possible pitch, and scarcely had
I left the room ere they seized the paper as if they would
devour
it. I heard some one who came in as I went
out ask, “Did he sign it?”

Another case of condescension on the part of an
upper classman occurred in the early part of my
third year at the Academy, and this time in the mess
hall. We were then seated at the tables by classes.
Each table had a commandant, who was a cadet
captain, lieutenant or sergeant, and in a few instances
a corporal. At each table there was also a carver,
who was generally a corporal, occasionally a
sergeant or private. The other seats were occupied by
privates, and usually in this order: first-classmen had
first and second seats, second-classmen second and
third seats, third-classmen third and fourth seats,
and fourth-classmen fourth and fifth seats, which
were at the foot of the table. I had a first seat,
although a second-classman. For some reason a
first-classman, who had a first seat at another table,
desired to change seats with me. He accordingly
sent a cadet for me. I went over to his room. I
agreed to make the change, provided he himself
obtained permission of the proper authorities. It
was distinctly understood that he was to take my
seat, a first seat, and I was to take his seat, also a
first seat. He obtained permission of the superintendent
of the mess hall, and also a written permit
from the commandant. The change was made, but
lo and behold! instead of a first seat I got a third.
The agreement was thus violated by him, my
superior (?), and I was dissatisfied. The whole affair
was explained to the commandant, not, however, by
myself, but by my consent, the permit revoked, and I
gained my former first seat. A tactical officer asked me,
“Why did you exchange with him? Has he ever done any
thing for you?”

I told him he had not, and that I did it merely to oblige
him. It was immaterial to me at what table I sat, provided
I had a seat consistent with the dignity of my class.

The baseness of character displayed by the
gentleman, the reflection on myself and class would have
evoked a complaint from me had not a classmate
anticipated me by doing so himself.

This gentleman (?) was practically “cut” by the
whole corps. He was spoken to, and that was about all
that made his status in the corps better than mine.

Just after the semiannual examination following this
adventure, another, more ridiculous still, occurred, of
which I was the innocent cause. The dismissal of a
number of deficient plebes and others made necessary a
rearrangement of seats. The commandant saw fit to have
it made according to class rank. It changed completely the
former arrangement, and gave me a third seat. A
classmate, who was senior to me, had the second seat.
He did not choose to take it, and for two or more weeks
refused to do so. I had the second seat during all this
time, while he was fed in his quarters by his chum. He
had a set of miniature cooking utensils in his own room,
and frequently cooked there, using the gas as a source of
heat. These were at last “hived,” and he was ordered to ”
turn them in. He went to dinner one day when I was
absent on guard. At supper
he appeared again. Some one asked him how it was
he was there, glancing at the same time at me. He
laughed—it was plainly forced—and replied, “I forgot to
fall out.”

He came to his meals the next day, the next, and
every succeeding day regularly. Thus were his scruples
overcome. His refusing to go to his meals because he had
to sit next to me was strongly disapproved by the corps
for two reasons, viz., that he ought to be man enough not
to thrust on others what he himself disliked; and that as
others for two years had had seats by me, he ought not to
complain because it now fell to his lot to have one there
too.

Just after my return, in September, 1875, from a
furlough of two months, an incident occurred which,
explained, will give some idea of the low, unprincipled
manner in which some of the cadets have acted toward
me. It was at cavalry drill. I was riding a horse that was
by no means a favorite with us. He happened to fall to my
lot that day, and I rather liked him. His greatest faults
were a propensity for kicking and slight inequality in the
length of his legs. We were marching in a column of
fours, and at a slow walk. I turned my head for some
purpose, and almost simultaneously my horse plunged
headlong into the fours in front of me. It was with
difficulty that I retained my seat. I supposed that when I
turned my head I had accidentally spurred him, thus
causing him to plunge forward. I regained my proper
place in ranks.

None of this was seen by the instructor, who was
riding at the head of the column. Shortly after this
I noticed that those near me were laughing. I
turned my head to observe the cause and caught the
trooper on my left in the act of spurring my horse. I
looked at him long and fiercely, while he desisted and
hung his head. Not long afterwards the same
thing was repeated, and this time was seen by the
instructor, who happened to wheel about as my horse
rushed forward. He immediately halted the column, and,
approaching, asked me, “What is the matter with that
horse, Mr. F.?” To which I replied, “The trooper on my
left persists in kicking and spurring him, so that
I can do nothing with him.”

He then caused another trooper in another set of
fours to change places with me, and thereafter all went
well.

Notwithstanding the secrecy of hazing, and the
great care which those who practised it took to prevent
being “hived,” they sometimes overreached themselves
and were severely punished. Cases have occurred where
cadets have been dismissed for hazing, while others have
been less severely punished.

Sometimes, also, the joke, if I may so call it, has been
turned upon the perpetrators to their utter discomfort. I
will cite an instance.

Quite often in camp two robust plebes are selected
and ordered to report at a specified tent just after the
battalion returns from supper. When they report each is
provided with a pillow. They take their places in the
middle of the company street, and at a given signal
commence pounding each other. A crowd assembles
from all parts of camp to witness the “pillow fight,” as it
is called. Sometimes, also,
after fighting awhile, the combatants are permitted to
rest, and another set continues the fight.

On one of these occasions, after fighting quite a
while, a pillow bursted, and one of the antagonists was
literally buried in feathers. At this a shout of laughter
arose and the fun was complete. But alas for such
pleasures! An officer in his tent, disturbed by the noise,
came out to find its cause. He saw it at a glance, aided
no doubt by vivid recollections of his own experience in
his plebe camp. He called an orderly and sent for the
cadet captain of the company. When he came he was
ordered to send the plebes—he said new cadets—to their
tents, and order them to remain there till permission was
given to leave them. He then had every man, not a plebe,
who had been present at the pillow fight turned out.
When this was done he ordered them to pick up every
feather within half an hour, and the captain to inspect at
the end of that time and to see that the order was
obeyed. Thus, therefore, the plebes got the better part of
the joke.

It was rumored in camp one day that the
superintendent and commandant were both absent from
the post, and that the senior tactical officer was therefore
acting superintendent. A plebe sentinel on Post No. 1,
seeing him approaching camp, and not knowing under the
circumstances how to act, or rather, perhaps, I should
say, not knowing whether the report was true or not,
called a corporal, and asked if he should salute this
officer with “present arms.” To this question that
dignitary replied with righteous horror, “Salute him with
present arms!
No, sir! You stand at attention, and when he gets on
your post shout, ‘Hosannah to the supe!’ This rather
startled the plebe, who found himself more confused than
ever. When it was about time for the sentinel to do
something the corporal told him what to do, and returned
to the guard tents. The officer was at the time the
commanding officer of the camp.

While walking down Sixth Avenue, New York,
with a young lady, on a beautiful Sabbath afternoon
in the summer of 1875, I was paid a high compliment
by an old colored soldier. He had lost one leg and
had been otherwise maimed for life in the great
struggle of 1861-65 for the preservation of the Union.
As soon as he saw me approaching he moved to the
outside of the pavement and assumed as well as
possible the position of the soldier. When I was about
six paces from him he brought his crutch to the
position of “present arms,” in a soldierly manner,
in salute to me. I raised my cap as I passed,
endeavoring to be as polite as possible, both in -return
for his salute and because of his age. He took the
position of “carry arms,” saying as he did so,
“That's right! that's right! Makes me glad to see
it.”

We passed on, while he, too, resumed his course,
ejaculating something about “good-breeding,” etc.,
all of which we did not hear.

Upon inquiry I learned, as stated, that he had served
in the Federal army. He had given his time and energy,
even at the risk of his life, to his country. He had lost one
limb, and been maimed otherwise
for life. I considered the salute for that reason a
greater honor.

During the summer of 1873 a number of cadets, who
were on furlough, visited Mammoth Cave. While there
they noticed on the wall, written in pencil, the name of an
officer who was an instructor in Spanish at West Point.
One of them took occasion to add to the inscription the
following bit of information :

“Known at the U. S. Military Academy as the ‘Spanish Inquisition.’”

A number of cadets accosted a plebe, who had just
reported in May, 1874, and the following conversation
ensued:

“Well, mister, what's your name?”

“John Walden.”

“Sir!” yelled rather than spoken.

“John Walden.”

“Well, sir, I want to see you put a ‘sir’ on it,” with
another yell.

“Sir John Walden,” was the unconcerned rejoinder.

Now it was not expected that the “sir” would be put
before the name after the manner of a title, but this
impenetrable plebe put it there, and in so solemn and
“don't-care” a manner that the cadets turned away in a
roar of laughter.

Ever afterward he was known in the corps as “Sir
John.”

Another incident, even more laughable perhaps than
the preceding, occurred between a cadet and
plebe, which doubtless saved the plebe from further
hazing. Approaching him with a look of utter contempt
on his face, the cadet asked him:

“Well, thing, what's your name?”

“Wilreni, sir,” meekly responded he.

“Wilreni, sir!” repeated the cadet slowly, and
bowing his head he seemed for a moment buried in
profoundest thought. Suddenly brightening up, he rejoined
in the most unconcerned manner possible: “Oh! yes, yes,
I remember now. You are Will Reni, the son of old man
Bill Reni,” put particular stress on “Will” and “Bill.”

I think, though, the most laughable incident that has
come under my notice was that of a certain plebe who
made himself famous for gourmandizing.

Each night throughout the summer encampment, the
guard is supplied from the mess hall with an abundance
of sandwiches. The old cadets rarely eat them, but to the
plebes, as yet unaccustomed to guard duty, they are quite
a treat.

On one occasion when the sandwiches were
unusually well prepared, and therefore unusually inviting,
it was desirable to preserve them till late in the night, till
after the guard had been turned out and inspected by the
officer of the day. They were accordingly—to conceal
them from the plebes—transferred, with the vessel
containing them, to one of the chests of a caisson of the
light battery, just in front of camp in park. Here they
were supposed to be safe. But alas for such safety! At
an hour not far advanced into the night, two plebes, led
by an unerring instinctiveness, discovered the hiding-place of
the sandwiches and devoured them all.

Henry O. Flipper2d Lieut 10th Cavy.

Now when the hour of feasting was come, a corporal
was dispatched for the dainty dish, when, lo, and behold!
it had vanished. The plebes—for who else could thus have
secretly devoured them—were brought to account and
the guilty ones discovered. They were severely censured
in that contemptuous manner in which only a cadet, an
upper classman, can censure a plebe, and threatened with
hazing and all sorts of unpleasantness.

Next morning they were called forth and marched
ingloriously to the presence of the commandant. Upon
learning the object of the visit he turned to the chief
criminal—the finder of the sandwiches—and asked him,
“Why did you eat all the sandwiches, Mr. S—?”

“I didn't eat them all up, sir. I ate only fifteen,” was his ready reply.

The gravity of the occasion, coupled with the enormity
of the feast, was too much, and the commandant turned
away his head to conceal the laughter he could not
withhold. The plebe himself was rather short and fleshy,
and the picture of mirth. Indeed to see him walking even
along the company street was enough to call forth
laughter either at him as he waddled along or at the
humorous remarks the act called forth from onlooking
cadets.

He was confined to one of the guard tents by order of
the commandant, and directed by him to submit a written
explanation for eating all the sandwiches of the guard.
The explanation was unsatisfactory,
and the gentleman received some other light punishment,
the nature of which has at this late day escaped my
memory.

The other plebe, being only a particeps criminis, was
not so severely punished. A reprimand, I think, was the
extent of his punishment.

The two gentlemen have long since gone where the
“woodbine twineth”—that is, been found deficient in
studies and dismissed.

There was a cadet in the corps who had a wonderful
propensity for using the word “mighty.”

With him everything was “mighty.” I honestly do not
believe I ever heard him conversing when he did not use
“mighty.”

Speaking of me one day, and unconscious of my
presence, he said, “I tell you he does ‘mighty’ well.”

During drill at the siege battery on the 25th of April,
1876, an accident occurred which came near proving
fatal to one of us. I had myself just fired an 8-inch
howitzer, and gone to the rear to observe the effect of
the other shots. One piece had been fired, and the
command for the next to fire had been given. I was
watching intently the target when I was startled by the
cry of some one near me, “Look out! look out!” I turned
my eyes instinctively toward the piece just fired, but
saw only smoke. I then looked up and saw a huge black
body of some kind moving rapidly over our heads. It was
not until the smoke had nearly disappeared that I knew
what was the cause of the disturbance. A number
of cannoneers and our instructor were vociferously
asking, “Anybody hurt? Anybody hurt?” We all moved up
to the piece, and, finding no one was injured, examined it.
The piece, a 41/2-inch rifle, mounted on a siege carriage,
had broken obliquely from the trunnions downward and to
the rear. The re-enforce thus severed from the chase
broke into three parts, the nob of the cascabel, and the
other portion split in the direction of the bore. The right
half of the re-enforce, together with the nob of the
cascabel, were projected into the air, describing a curve
over our heads, and falling at about twenty feet from the
right of the battery, having passed over a horizontal
distance of about sixty or seventy feet. The left half was
thrown obliquely to the ground, tearing away in its
passage the left cheek of the carriage, and breaking the
left trunnion plate. A cannoneer was standing on the
platform of the next piece on the left with the lanyard in
his hand. His feet were on two adjacent deck planks, his
heels being on line with the edge of the platform. These
two planks were struck upon their ends, and moved
bodily, with the cadet upon them, three or four inches
from their proper place. The bolts that held them and the
adjacent planks together were broken, while not the
slightest injury was done the cadet.

It was hardly to be believed, and was not until two or
three of the other cannoneers had examined him and
found him really uninjured. It was simply miraculous. The
instructor sent the cannoneers to the rear, and fired the
next gun himself.

After securing the pieces and replacing equipments,
we were permitted to again examine the
bursted gun, after which the battery was dismissed.

There had been some difficulty in loading the piece,
especially in getting the projectile home. It was supposed
that this not being done properly caused the bursting.

I was one summer day enjoying a walk on “Flirtation.”
I was alone, and, if I remember aright, “on Old
Guard privileges.” Walking leisurely along I soon
observed in front of me a number of young ladies, a
servant girl, and several small children.

They were all busily occupied in gathering wild
flowers, a kind of moss and ferns which grow here in
abundance. I was first seen by one of the children, a little
girl. She instantly fixed her eyes upon me, and began
vociferating in a most joyous manner, “The colored cadet!
the colored cadet! I'm going to tell mamma I've seen the colored cadet.”

The servant girl endeavored to quiet her, but she
continued as gayly as ever:

All the others stopped gathering flowers, and
watched me till I was out of sight.

A similar display of astonishment has occurred at
every annual examination since I became a cadet, and on
these occasions the ladies more than anybody else have
been the ones to show it.

Whenever I took my place on the floor to receive my
enunciation or to be questioned, I have observed
whisperings, often audible, and gestures of surprise
among the lady visitors. I have frequently heard such
exclamations as this: “Oh! there's the colored cadet!
there's the colored cadet!”

All of this naturally tended to confuse me, and it was
only by determined effort that I maintained any degree of
coolness. Of course they did not intend to confuse me.
Nothing was, I dare say, further from their thoughts. But
they were women; and it never occurs to a woman to
think before she speaks.

It was rather laughable to hear a cadet, who was
expounding the theory of twilight, say, pointing to his
figure on the blackboard: “If a spectator should cross this
limit of the crepuscular zone he would enter into final
darkness.”

Now “final darkness,” as we usually understand
it, refers to something having no resemblance whatever
to the characteristics of the crepuscular zone.

The solemn manner in which he spoke it, together
with their true significations, made the circumstance
quite laughable.

The most ludicrous case of hazing I know of is, I
think, the following:

For an unusual display of grossness a number of
plebes were ordered by the cadet lieutenant on duty
over them to report at his “house” at a specified
hour. They duly reported their presence, and were
directed to assume the position of the soldier, facing
the wall until released. After silently watching
them for a considerable time, the lieutenant, who had
a remarkable penchant for joking, called two of them
into the middle of the room. He caused them to stand dos
à dos, at a distance of about one foot from each other,
and then bursting into a laugh, which he vainly
endeavored to suppress, he commanded, “Second,
exercise!”

Now to execute this movement the hands are
extended vertically over the head and the hands joined.
At the command “Two!” given when this is done, the
arms are brought briskly forward and downward until the
hands touch if possible the ground or floor. The plebes
having gone through the first motion, the lieutenant thus
cautioned them:

“When I say ‘Two!’ I want to see you men come
down with life, and touch the floor. Two!”

At the command they both quickly, and “with life”
brought their bodies forward and their arms downward;
nay, they but attempted, for scarcely had they left the
vertical ere their bodies collided, and they were each
hurled impetuously, by the inevitable reaction in opposite
directions, over a distance of several feet.

Their bodies being in an inclined position when struck,
and the blow being of great force, they were necessarily
forced still further from the erect attitude, and were with
much difficulty able to keep themselves from falling
outright on the floor. Of course all present, save those
concerned, enjoyed it immensely. Indeed it was
enjoyable. Even the plebes themselves had a hearty laugh
over it when they were dismissed.

Again a cadet lieutenant, who was on duty at the
time over the “Seps,” ordered a number of them to
report at his “house” at a given hour. They had
been unusually gross, and he intended to punish them by
keeping them standing in his quarters. They reported, and
were put in position to serve their punishment. For some
reason the lieutenant left the room, when one of the
“Seps” faced to the others and thus spoke to them:

“Say, boys, let's kick up the devil. P—has gone
out.”

Now it so happened that P—'s chum was present, but in
his alcove, and this was not known to the Seps. When the
Sep had finished speaking, this chum came forth and
“went for” him. He made the Sep assume the soldier's
position, and then commanded, “Second, exercise!”
which command the Sep proceeded to obey.

Another cadet coming in found him vigorously at it,
and queried, “Well, mister, what's all that for?”

“Eccentricity of Mr. M—, sir,” he promptly replied.

The word eccentricity was not interpreted by the
cadet, of course, as the Sep meant it should be, but in the
sense we use it when we speak of the eccentricity of an
orbit for instance.

Hence it was that Mr. M—asked, “Well, sir,
what's the expression for my eccentricity?”

There is another incident remotely connected with my
first tour of guard duty which may be mentioned here.

At about eleven o'clock A.M., in obedience to a then
recent order, my junior reported at the observatory to
make the necessary observations for finding the error of
the Tower clock. After an elaborate explanation
by an officer then present upon the graduation
of the vernier and the manner of reading it, the cadet set
the finders so as to read the north polar distance of the
sun for that day at West Point apparent noon. When it
was about time for the sun's limb to begin its transit of the
wires, the cadet took position to observe it. The instructor
was standing ready to record the times of transit over
each wire. Time was rapidly passing, and not yet had the
cadet called out “Ready.” The anxious instructor
cautiously queried:

“Do you see any light, Mr. P—?,”

“No, sir.”

“Can you see the wires?”

“No, sir, not yet.”

“Any light yet, Mr. P—?”

“Yes, sir, it is getting brighter.”

“Can you see the wires at all?”

“No, Sir; it keeps getting brighter, but I can't
see the wires yet.”

Fearing he might be unable to make his observations
that day unless the difficulty was speedily removed, the
instructor himself took position at the transit, and made
the ridiculous discovery that the cap had not been
removed from the farther end of the telescope, and yet it kept getting brighter.

One day in the early summer of 1875, a cadet was
showing a young lady the various sights and wonders at
West Point, when they came across an old French
cannon bearing this inscription, viz., “Charles de
Bourbon, Compte d'Eu, ultima ratio regum.”

She was the first to notice it, and astonished the cadet
with the following rendition of it:

“I suppose that means Charles Bourbon made the
gun, and the Spanish (?) that the artilleryman must have
his rations.”

What innocence! Or shall I say, what ignorance?

“The authorities of West Point have entered an
interdict against the cadets loaning their sashes and other
military adornments to young ladies, and great is the
force of feminine indignation.” Summer of 1873.

COME KISS ME, LOVE.

A young lieutenant at the Academy and his fiancée
were seen by an old maid at the hotel to kiss each other.
At the first opportunity she reproved the fair damsel for,
to her, such unmaidenly conduct. With righteous
indignation she repelled the reproof as follows :

“Not let S—kiss me! Why, I should die!”
Then lovingly,

“Come kiss me, love, list not what they say,Their passions are cold, wasted away.They know not how two hearts like ours areLong to mingle i' the sweetness o' the kiss,That like the soft light of a heavenly star,As it wanders from its world to this,Diffuses itself through ev'ry veinAnd meets on the lips to melt again.”
CHAPTER XV.
GRADUATION—IN THE ARMY.

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”

MY four years were drawing to a close. They
had been years of patient endurance and hard and
persistent work, interspersed with bright oases of
happiness and gladness and joy, as well as weary barren
wastes of loneliness, isolation, unhappiness, and
melancholy. I believe I have discharged—I know I have
tried to do so—every duty faithfully and conscientiously. It
had been a sort of bittersweet experience, this
experimental life of mine at West Point. It was almost
over, and whatever of pure sweetness, whatever of
happiness, or whatever reward fortune had in store for
me, was soon to become known.

“Speaking of the Military Academy, we understand
that the only colored cadet now at West Point will not
only graduate at the coming June commencement, but
that his character, acquirements, and standing on the
merit roll are such as will insure his graduation among
the highest of his class.”—Harper's Weekly, April 28th,
1877.

All recitations of the graduating class were
discontinued on the last scholar day of May. On June 1st
examination began. The class was first examined in
mineralogy and geology. In this particular subject
I “maxed it,” made a thorough recitation. I was
required to discuss the subject of “Mesozoic Time.” After
I had been examined in this subject Bishop Quintard, of
Tennessee, a member of the Board of Visitors, sent for
me, and personally congratulated me on my recitation of
that day, as well as for my conduct during the whole four
years. My hopes never were higher; I knew I would
graduate. I felt it, and I made one last effort for rank. I
wanted to graduate as high up as possible. I was not
without success, as will subsequently appear. The New
York Herald was pleased to speak as follows of my
recitation in mineralogy and geology:

“To-day the examination of the first class in mineralogy and
geology was completed, and the first section was partially examined in
engineering. In the former studies the class acquitted themselves in a
highly creditable manner, and several members have shown themselves
possessed of abilities far above the average. The class has in its ranks a
son of General B. F. Butler, Hon. John Bigelow's son, and sons of two ex-
Confederate officers. Flipper, the colored cadet, was examined to-day,
and produced a highly favorable impression upon the board not less by
his ready and intelligent recitation than by his modest, unassuming, and
gentlemanly manner. There is no doubt that he will pass, and he is said to
have already ordered a cavalry uniform, showing that he has a
predilection for that branch of the service.”

The class was next examined in law. In this, also, I
exceeded my most sanguine expectations, again “maxing
it” on a thorough recitation. My subject was “Domicile.”
Senator Maxey, of the Board of Visitors, questioned me
closely. The Bishop of Tennessee left his seat in the
board, came outside when the section was dismissed, and
shook my hand in hearty congratulation. These were the
proudest moments of my life. Even some of my own
classmates congratulated me on this recitation. All that
loneliness, dreariness, and melancholy of the four years
gone was forgotten. I lived only in the time being and
was happy. I was succeeding, and was meeting with that
success which humble effort never fails to attain.

The New York Tribune joins in with its good words
as follows:

LIEUTENANT FLIPPER,
THE COLORED GRADUATE OF WEST
POINT.

“The examination of the first class in law will be completed
tomorrow. The sections thus far called up have done very well. The
colored cadet, Flipper, passed uncommonly well this morning, showing a
practical knowledge of the subject very satisfactory to Senator Maxey,
who questioned him closely, and to the rest of the board. He has a good
command of plain and precise English, and his voice is full and pleasant.
Mr. Flipper will be graduated next week with the respect of his
instructors, and not the less of his fellows, who have carefully avoided
intercourse with him. The quiet dignity which he has shown during this
long isolation of four years has been really remarkable. Until another of
his race, now in one of the lower classes, arrived, Flipper scarcely heard
the sound of his own voice except in recitation, and it is to be feared
that unless he is detailed at Howard University, which has been
mentioned as possible, his trials have only begun.”

The class was next examined in civil and military
engineering. In this also I did as well as in either of the
other studies. I made a thorough recitation. I was
required to explain what is meant by an “order of battle,”
and to illustrate by the battles of Zama, Pharsalia, and
Leuctra.

THE COLORED CADET.

“Flipper, the colored cadet from South Carolina, was up this
afternoon and acquitted himself remarkably well. Some time since
he was recommended for a higher grade than the one he holds, and his
performance to-day gained him a still higher standing in the class. ”

In ordnance and gunnery the class was next
examined. In this I was less successful. I was to assume
one of Captain Didion's equations of the trajectory in air,
and determine the angle of projection represented by (,
and the range represented by in the following equation :

[Mathematical Equation]

and to explain the construction and use of certain tables
used in connection with it. I made a fair recitation, but
one by no means satisfactory to myself. I lost four files
on it at least. A good recitation in ordnance and gunnery
would have brought me out forty-five or six instead of
fifty. I did not make it, and it was too late to better it. This
was the last of our examination. It ended on the 11th day
of June. On the 14th we were graduated and received
our diplomas.

During the examination I received letters of
congratulation in every mail. Some of them may not be
uninteresting. I give a few of them:

POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT, ROOM 48,
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 3, 1877.

MY DEAR MR. FLIPPER: It has been four years since I last
addressed you. Then you had just entered the Academy with other young
colored men, who have since dropped by the way. I was at that time the
editor of the Era in this city, and wrote an article on West Point and
snobocracy which you may remember reading.

I felt a thrill of pleasure here the other day when I read your name as
the first graduate from the Academy. I take this opportunity
of writing you again to extend my hearty congratulations, and
trust your future career may be as successful as your academic one.
“My boy,” Whittaker, has, I am told, been rooming with you, and I trust has
been getting much benefit from the association.

DEAR SIR: I have been much pleased reading the complimentary
references to your approaching graduation which have appeared in the
New York papers the past week. I beg to congratulate you most heartily,
and I sincerely trust that the same intelligence and pluck which has
enabled you to successfully complete your academic course may be
shown in a still higher degree in the new sphere of duty soon to be
entered upon.

DEAR SIR: Having noticed in the daily papers of this city an account
of the successful termination of your course at the Military Academy,
we hasten to tender you our sincere congratulations.

We are prompted to this act by an experimental knowledge of the
social ostracism and treacherous duplicity to which you must have been
made the unhappy victim during the long years of faithful study through
which you have just passed.

We congratulate you upon the moral courage and untiring energy
which must have been yours, to enable you to successfully battle against
the immeasurable influence of the prejudice shown to all of us at both of
our national schools. We hail your success as a national
acknowledgment, in a new way, of the mental and moral worth of our
race; and we feel amply repaid for the many privations we have
undergone in the naval branch of our service, in noting the
fact that one of us has been permitted to successfully stand the trying
ordeal.

Trusting that the same firmness of purpose and untiring energy,
which have characterized your stay there, may ever be true of your
future career on the field and at the hearth side,

We remain, very truly yours,
—,
—.POST-OFFICE, NEW YORK CITY, N. Y.
OFFICE OF THE POSTMASTER,
Wednesday, June 7, 1877.

MY DEAR FRIEND: Let me extend to you my full gratitude upon your
success at West Point. I was overjoyed when I saw it. My friends are
delighted with you, and they desire to see you when you come down. Let
me know when you think you will leave West Point, and I will look out
for you.

MY DEAR FRIEND: I wish to congratulate you upon passing successfully
your final examination, and salute you as the first young colored man
who has had the manhood and courage to struggle through and overcome
every obstacle. So many of our young men had failed that I wondered if
you would be able to withstand all the opposition you met with, whether
you could endure the kind of life they mete out to our young men at our
national Military Academy. I rejoice to know that you have won this
important victory over prejudice and caste. This will serve you in good
stead through many a conflict in life. Your path will not be all strewn
with roses; something of that caste and prejudice will still pursue you as
you enter the broader arena of military life, but you must make up your
mind to live it down, and your first victory will greatly aid you in this
direction. One thing, allow me to impress upon you: you are not fighting
your own battle, but you are fighting the battle of a struggling people;
and for this reason, my dear Flipper, resolve now in
your deepest soul that come what may you will never surrender;
that you will never succumb. Others may leave the service for more lucrative pursuits ; your duty to your people and to yourself demand that you remain.

Be assured that whatever you do, wherever you may go, you always
have my deepest sympathy and best wishes.

I return to Europe in a few weeks.

Cordially yours,
—.

Even the cadets and other persons connected with the
Academy congratulated me. Oh how happy I was! I
prized these good words of the cadets above all others.
They knew me thoroughly. They meant what they said,
and I felt I was in some sense deserving of all I received
from them by way of congratulation. Several visited my
quarters. They did not hesitate to speak to me or shake
hands with me before each other or any one else. All
signs of ostracism were gone. All felt as if I was worthy
of some regard, and did not fail to extend it to me.

At length, on June 14th, I received the reward of my
labors, my “sheepskin,” the United States Military Academy
Diploma, that glorious passport to honor and distinction, if
the bearer do never disgrace it.

Here is the manner of ceremony we had on that day,
as reported in the New York Times:

“The concluding ceremony
in the graduation exercises at the West
Point Academy took place this morning, when the diplomas were
awarded to the graduates. The ceremony took place in the open air under
the shadow of the maple trees, which form almost a grove in front of
the Academy building. Seats had been arranged here for the spectators, so
as to leave a hollow square, on one side of which, behind a long table, sat
the various dignitaries who were to take part in the proceedings. In front
of them, seats were arranged for the
graduating class. The cadets formed line in front of the barracks at
10.30, and, preceded by the band playing a stirring air, marched to the
front of the Academy building. The first class came without their arms;
the other classes formed a sort of escort of honor to them. The
graduating class having taken their seats, the other classes stacked arms
and remained standing in line around the square. The proceedings were
opened by an address from Professor Thompson, of the School of
Technology, Worcester Mass., who is the Chairman of the Board of
Visitors.”

And thus after four years of constant work amid
many difficulties did I obtain my reward.

“Lieutenant H. O.
Flipper was the only cadet who received the
cheers of the assembled multitude at West Point upon receiving his
parchment. How the fellows felt who couldn't associate with him we do
not know; but as the old Christian woman said, they ‘couldn't a been on
the mountain top.’

”—Christian Recorder.

Victor Hugo says somewhere in his works that he
who drains a marsh must necessarily expect to hear the
frogs croak. I had graduated, and of course the
newspapers had to have a say about it. Some of the
articles are really amusing. I couldn't help laughing at
them when I read them. Here is something from the New
York Herald which is literally true:

“MR. BLAINE
AND THE COLORED CADET.

“Senator James G. Blaine, with his wife and daughter and Miss Dodge
(‘Gail Hamilton’) left at noon yesterday in anticipation of the rush.
Before going the Senator did a very gracious and kindly deed in an
unostentatious way. Sending for Flipper, the colored cadet, he said:

“‘I don't know that you have any political friends in your own
State, Mr. Flipper, and you may find it necessary to have an
intermediary in Congress to help you out of your difficulties. I want you
to consider me your friend, and call upon me for aid when you need it.’

“With that he shook the lad's hand and bade him good-by.

“Bishop Quintard, of Tennessee, and Senator Maxey, of Texas, also
complimented the pioneer graduate of the colored race upon his conduct
throughout the four years of his training, and proffered their sympathy
and assistance. With these encouragements from prominent men of both
political parties the young man seemed deeply touched, and thanking
them suitably he returned with a light heart to his quarters.”

It was so very kind of the distinguished senators and
bishop. I valued these congratulations almost as much as
my diploma. They were worth working and enduring for.

The New York Herald again speaks, and that about not
hearing my voice, etc., made me “larf.” Here is the
article:

“THE COLORED CADET'S
EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS.

“Flipper, the colored cadet, who graduates pretty well up in his
class, said to me to-day that he is determined to get into either the
Ninth or Tenth colored cavalry regiment if possible. He seems to
be very happy in view of the honorable close of his academic career,
and entertains little doubt that he can procure the appointment he
wishes. When asked whether he was not aware that there was a
law providing that even colored t troops must be officered by white
men, he replied that he had heard something of that years ago, but
did not think it was true. ‘If there is such a law,’ he said emphatically,
but with good humor, ‘it is unconstitutional and cannot be
enforced.’ He added that several weeks ago he wrote to a
prominent gentleman in Alabama to inquire what the existing law on the
subject was, and had not yet received an answer. I questioned him
about his experience in the Academy, and he said that he had suffered
but little on account of his race. The first year was very hard, as
the class all made their dislike manifest in a variety of ways.
‘That,’ he said, ‘was in a great measure caused by the bad conduct
of Smith, the colored cadet who preceded me. When the class
found out that I was not like him, they treated me well. The professors
act toward me in every respect as toward the others, and the cadets,
I think, do not dislike me. But they don't associate with me. I
don't care for that. If they don't want to speak to me I don't want
them to, I'm sure.’ Save in the recitation-room Flipper never heard the
sound of his own voice for months and months at a time; but he was kept
so hard at work all the time that he did not mind it. If he should join a
regiment, however, he would be more alone even than he has been here,
for the association with other officers in the line of duty would not be so
close as it has been with the cadets. He would be isolated—ostracized—
and he would feel it more keenly, because he would have more leisure for
social intercourse, and his mind would not be so occupied as it has been
here with studies.

“Senator Blaine, in the course of a conversation last night, thought
the career of Flipper would be to go South and become a leader of his
race. He could in that way become famous, and could accomplish much
good for the country.” . . . .

When I entered the Academy I saw in a paper
something about colored officers being put in white
regiments, etc. It purported to be a conversation with the
then Secretary of War, who said there was such a law,
and that it would be enforced. The then Secretary of
War has since told me he was sure there was such a law,
until to satisfy himself he searched the Revised Statutes,
when he found he was mistaken.

I have mentioned elsewhere the untruthfulness of the
statement that I never heard my own voice except in the
recitation-room. Every one must know that could not be
true. The statement is hardly worth a passing remark.

“If he should join a regiment, however,” etc. Ah! well,
I have joined my regiment long ago. Let me say, before I
go further, I am putting this manuscript in shape for the
press, and doing it in my quarters at Fort Sill, I. T. These
remarks are inserted apropos of this article. From the
moment I reached Sill I haven't experienced any thing but
happiness. I am not isolated. I am not ostracized by
a single officer. I do not “feel it more keenly,” because
what the Herald said is not true. The Herald, like other
papers, forgets that the army is officered by men who are
presumably officers and gentlemen. Those who are will
treat me as become gentlemen, as they do, and those
who are not I will thank if they will “ostracize” me, for if
they don't I will certainly “ostracize” them.

“But to get into a cavalry regiment is the highest ambition of most
cadets, and failing in that it is almost a toss-up between the infantry and
the artillery. Flipper, the South Carolina colored cadet, wants to get into
the cavalry, and as there is a black regiment of that character he will, it
is thought, be assigned to that. There is in existence a law specifying that
even black regiments shall be officered by white men, and it is thought
there will be some trouble in assigning Flipper. As any such law is in
opposition to the constitutional amendments, of course it will be easily
rescinded. From the disposition shown by most of the enlisted men with
whom I have conversed at odd times upon this subject, I fancy that if
Flipper were appointed to the command of white soldiers they would be
restive, and would, if out upon a scout, take the first opportunity to
shoot him; and this feeling exists even among men here who have
learned to respect him for what he is.”

Now that is laughable, isn't it? What he says about the
soldiers at West Point is all “bosh.” Nobody will believe it.
I don't. I wish the Herald reporter who wrote the above
would visit Fort Sill and ask some of the white soldiers
there what they think of me. I am afraid the Herald
didn't get its “gift of prophecy” I from the right place.
Such blunders are wholly inexcusable. The Herald
reporter deserves an “extra” (vide Cant Terms, etc.) for
that. I wish he could get one at any rate. Perhaps,
however, the following will excuse him. It is true.

“He is spoken of by all the officers as a hard student and a
gentleman. To a very great extent he has conquered the prejudices of his
fellows, and although they still decline to associate with him it is evident
that they respect him. Said one of his class this morning: ‘Flipper has
certainly shown pluck and gentlemanly qualities, and I shall certainly
shake his“flipper” when we say “Good-by.” We have no feeling against him at all, but we could not associate with him. You see we are so
crowded together here that we are just like one family, possessing every
thing in common and borrowing every thing, even to a pair of white
trousers, and we could not hold such intimate fellowship with him. It may
be prejudice, but we could not do it; so we simply let him alone, and he
has lived to himself, except when we drill with him. Feel bad about it?
Well, I suppose he did at first, but he has got used to it now. The boys
were rather afraid that when he should come to hold the position as
officer of the guard that he would swagger over them, but he showed good
sense and taste, merely assuming the rank formally and leaving his junior
to carry out the duty.’ ”

That glorious day of graduation marked a new epoch
in my military life. Then my fellow-cadets and myself
forgot the past. Then they atoned for past conduct and
welcomed me as one of them as well as one among
them.

I must revert to that Herald's article just to show how
absurd it is to say I never heard the sound of my own
voice except in the section-room. I heard it at reveille, at
breakfast, dinner, and supper roll-calls, at the table, at taps,
and at every parade I attended during the day—in all no
less than ten or twelve times every single day during the
four years. Of course I heard it in other places, as I have
explained elsewhere. I always had somebody to talk to
every single day I was at the Academy. Why, I was the
happiest man in the institution, except when I'd get
brooding over my loneliness, etc. Such moments would
come, when it would seem nothing
would interest me. When they were gone I was again as
cheerful and as happy as ever. I learned to hate holidays.
At those times the other cadets would go off skating,
rowing, or visiting. I had no where to go except to walk
around the grounds, which I sometimes did. I more often
remained in my quarters. At these times barracks would be deserted
and I would get so lonely and melancholy I wouldn't
know what to do. It was on an occasion like this—
Thanksgiving Day—I wrote the words given in another
place, beginning,

“Oh! 'tis hard this lonely living, to beIn the midst of life so solitary,” etc.

Here is something from Harper's Weekly. The
northern press generally speak. in the same tenor of my
graduation.

“Inman Edward Page, a colored student at Brown University, has
succeeded in every respect better than his brother Flipper at West Point.
While a rigid non-intercourse law was for four years maintained between
Flipper and the nascent warriors at the Military Academy, Page has lived
in the largest-leaved clover at Brown, and in the Senior year just closed
was chosen Class-day Orator—a position so much coveted among
students ambitious for class honors that it is ranked by many even higher
than the Salutatory or the Valedictory. Page has throughout been treated
by his classmates as one of themselves. He is a good writer and speaker,
though not noticeably better than some of his classmates. His conduct
has been uniformly modest but self-respectful, and he had won the
esteem of professors as well as students. The deportment of his class
toward him is in high and honorable contrast with that pursued by the
less manly students supported by the government at West Point, who
may have already learned that the ‘plain people’ of the country are with Flipper.”

Here is something of a slightly different kind from a Georgia paper—Augusta
Chronicle andConstitutionalist. Its tone betrays the locality of its birth.

“Benjamin
F. Butler, Jr., who graduated at West Point last summer
in the same class with the colored cadet from Georgia, Flipper, has been
assigned for duty to the Ninth Cavalry, the same regiment to which
Flipper is attached. The enlisted men in this regiment are all negroes.
Ben, senior, doubtless engineered the assignment in order to make
himself solid with the colored voters of the South. Ben, like old Joe
Bagstock, is devilish sly.”

It is in error as to my assignment. Lieutenant Butler
(whose name, by the way, is not Benjamin F., Jr.) was
assigned to the Ninth Cavalry. Here is the truth about my
assignment, given in the Sing Sing (N. Y.) Republican:

“Cadet Flipper has been appointed to the Tenth U. S. Cavalry
(colored), now in Texas. Secretary of State Bigelow's son has also been
assigned to the same regiment. We wonder if the non-intercourse
between the two at West Point will be continued in the army. Both have
the same rank and are entitled to the same privileges. Possibly a
campaign among the Indians, or a brush with the ‘Greasers’ on the Rio
Grande, will equalize the complexion of the two.”

The National Monitor, of Brooklyn (N. Y.), has this
much to say. It may be worth some study by the cadets
now at the Academy.

“Lieutenant Flipper, colored, a recent graduate from West Point, is
a modest gentleman, and no grumbler. He says that privately he was
treated by fellow-cadets with proper consideration, but reluctantly
admits that he was publicly slighted. He can afford to be untroubled and
magnanimous. How is it with his fellows? Will not shame ere long
mantle their cheeks at the recollection of this lack of moral courage on
their part? A quality far more to be desired than any amount of
physical heroism they may ever exhibit.”

Here is something extra good from the Hudson River
Chronicle, of Sing Sing. To all who want to
know the truth about me physically, I refer them to this
article. I refer particularly to the editor of a certain New
Orleans paper, who described me as a “little bow-legged
grif of the most darkly coppery hue.”

“For a few days past
Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, the colored cadet
who graduated from West Point Academy last week, has been the guest
of Professor John W. Hoffman, of this place. Lieutenant Flipper is a
native of Atlanta, Georgia, whence General Sherman commenced that
glorious march to the sea which proved what a hollow shell the Southern
Confederacy really was. The lieutenant evidently has a large strain of
white blood in his veins, and could probably, if so disposed, trace descent
from the F. F's. He stands six feet, is well proportioned, has a keen, quick
eye, a gentlemanly address, and a soldierly bearing. He goes from here to
his home in Georgia, on a leave of absence which extends to the first of
November, when he will join the Tenth Cavalry, to which he has been
assigned as Second Lieutenant. This assignment shows that Lieutenant
Flipper stood above the average of the graduating class, as the cavalry is
the next to the highest grade in the service—only the Engineer Corps
taking precedence of the cavalry arm.

“For four long years Cadet Flipper has led an isolated life at the
Point—without one social companion, being absolutely ostracized by his
white classmates. As much as any mortal, he can say:

“ ‘In the crowdThey would not deem me one of such; I stoodAmong them, but not of them; in a shroudOf thoughts which were not their thoughts.’

“There must have been much of inherent manhood in a boy that
could stand that long ordeal, and so bear himself at the close that, when
his name was pronounced among the graduates, the fair women and brave
men who had gathered to witness the going out into the world of the
nation's wards, with one accord greeted the lone student with a round of
applause that welcomed none others of the class, and that could call
from Speaker Blaine the strong assurance that if he ever needed a friend
he might trustingly call on him.

“‘The path of glory leads but to the grave,’ but we venture the
prediction that Lieutenant Flipper will tread that path as fearlessly and
as promptly as any of his comrades of the ‘Class of '77.’ ”

Here is an editorial article from the New York
Tribune. It needs no comment, nor do the two following,
which were clipped from the Christian Union.

LIEUTENANT FLIPPER.

“Among the West Point graduates this year is young Flipper, a lad of
color and of African descent. It is stated that he acquitted himself very
respectably in his examination by the Board of Visitors, that he will pass
creditably, and that he will go into the cavalry, which is rather an
aristocratic branch, we believe, of the service. Mr. Flipper must have had
rather a hard time of it during his undergraduate career, if, as we find it
stated, most if not all his white fellow-students have declined to associate
with him. He has behaved so well under these anomalous circumstances,
that he has won the respect of those who, so far as the discipline of the
school would permit, ignored his existence. ‘We have no feeling against
him,’ said one of the students, ‘but still we could not associate with him.
It may be prejudice, but still we couldn't do it.’ Impossibilities should be
required of no one, and if the white West Pointers could not treat Mr.
Flipper as if he were one of themselves, why of course that is an end of
the matter. So long as they kept within the rules of the service, and were
guilty of no conduct ‘unbecoming an officer and a gentleman,’ it was not
for their commanders to interfere. But when they tell us that they
couldn't possibly associate with Mr. Flipper, who is allowed to have
‘shown pluck and gentlemanly qualities,’ we may at least inquire whether
they have tried to do so. Conquering prejudices implies a fight with
prejudices—have these young gentlemen had any such fight? Have they
too ‘shown pluck and gentlemanly qualities?’

“We are not disposed to speak harshly of these fastidious young
fellows, who will not be long out of the school before they will be rather
sorry that they didn't treat Mr. Flipper a little more cordially. But a
much more important matter is that he has, in spite of his color, made a
good record every way, has kept up with his class, has not been dropped
or dismissed, but emerges a full-blown Second Lieutenant of Cavalry. He
has thus achieved a victory not only for himself but for his race. He has
made matters easier for future colored cadets; and twenty years hence, if
not sooner, the young white gentlemen of West Point will read of the
fastidiousness of their predecessors
with incredulous wonder. Time and patience will settle every
thing.”

CADET FLIPPER.

“The most striking illustration of class prejudice this year has been
afforded, not by Mississippi or Louisiana, but by West Point. In 1873
Cadet Flipper entered the Military Academy. God had given him a black
skin, a warm heart, an active brain, and a patriotic ambition. He was
guilty of no other crime than that of being a negro, and bent on
obtaining a good education. He represented a race which had done as
good fighting for the flag as any done by the fair-skinned Anglo-Saxon
or Celt. Congress had recognized his right and the right of his race to
education.

“But his classmates decided that it should be denied him. If they had
possessed the brutal courage of the murderers of Chisholm they would
have shot him, or whipped him, or hung him; but they were not brave
enough for that, and they invented instead a punishment worse than the
State has inflicted upon its most brutal criminals. They condemned him
to four years of solitude and silence. For four years not a classmate
spoke to Cadet Flipper; for three years he did not hear his own voice,
except in the recitation-room, on leave of absence, or in chance
conversation with a stray visitor. Then another negro entered West
Point, and he had one companion. The prison walls of a Sing Sing cell
are more sympathetic than human prejudice. And in all that class of '77
there were not to be found a dozen men brave enough to break through
this wall of silence and give the imprisoned victim his liberty. At least
two thirds of the class are Republican appointees; and not one champion
of equal rights. In all that class but one hero—and he a negro. Seventy-five
braves against one! And the one was victorious. He fought out the four
years' campaign, conquered and graduated. Honor to the African; shame
to the Anglo-Saxon.”

CADET FLIPPER AGAIN.

“We have received several letters on the subject of Cadet Flipper, to
whose treatment at West Point we recently called the attention of our
readers. One of them is from a former instructor, who bears a high
testimony to Lieutenant Flipper's character. He writes:

“‘I want to thank you for your editorial in the Christian Union about Cadet Flipper. He was one of our boys; was with us in school from the beginning of his education till Freshman year in college, when he received his appointment to West
Point. He was always obedient, faithful, modest, and in every way manly. We were sorry to have him leave us; but now rejoice in his victory, and take pride in him.

“‘During all these years, in his correspondence with his friends, he has not, so far as I can learn, uttered a single complaint about his treatment.’

“A second is from a Canadian reader, who objects to our
condemnation of the Anglo-Saxon race, and insists that we should have
reserved it for the Yankees. In Canada, he assures us, the color line is
unknown, and that negroes and Anglo-Saxons mingle in the same
school and in the same sports without prejudice. Strange to say the white
men are not colored by the intercourse.

“The third letter comes indirectly from Lieutenant Flipper himself.
In it the writer gives us the benefit of information derived from the
lieutenant. We quote (the italics are ours):

“‘Mr. Flipper is highly respected here, and has been received by his former teachers and friends with pleasure and pride. His deportment and character have won respect and confidence for himself and his race. As to his treatment at West Point, he assures me that the “papers” are far astray. There was no ostracism on the part of his fellow-cadets, except
in the matter of personal public association. He was invariably spoken to and treated courteously and respectfully both as a cadet and officer.’

“We are glad to be assured that it was not as bad as we had been
informed by what we considered as good authority; and we are still more
glad to know that Lieutenant Flipper, instead of making much of his
social martyrdom, has the good sense to make as light of it as he
conscientiously can. But if it is true that there were cadets who did not
sympathize with the action of the class, and were brave enough to speak
to their colored comrade in private, it was a pity that they were not able
to screw their courage up to a little higher point, and put the mark of a
public condemnation on so petty and cruel a persecution.”

The people at large seem to be laboring under a
delusion about West Point, at least the West Point that I
knew. I know nothing of what West Point was, or of
what was done there before I entered the Academy. I
have heard a great deal and read a great deal, and I am
compelled to admit I have doubts about much of it. At the
hands of the officers of the institution my treatment didn't
differ from that
of the other cadets at all, and at the hands of the
cadets themselves it differed solely “in the matter
of personal public association.” I was never persecuted,
or abused, or called by approbrious epithets
in my hearing after my first year. I am told it has
been done, but in my presence there has never been
any thing but proper respect shown me. I have mentioned
a number of things done to me by cadets, and I
have known the same things to be done to white cadets. For
instance, I was reported for speaking to a sergeant about the
discharge of his duty. (See Chapter X., latter part, on that
subject.) The same thing occurred to several members of the
class of '74. They were ordered into the rear rank by a sergeant
of the second class, when they were first-classmen. They were
white. The result was they were all, three in number, I think, put
in arrest.

Some New England paper contributes the following articles
to this discussion, parts of which I quote:

THE BIGOT AND THE SNOB

“The Hilton-Seligman controversy is one of those incidents which
illustrate some of the features of our social life. The facts can briefly be
stated. A Jewish gentleman, of wealth and position, applies for rooms at
the Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga, and is flatly refused admission because
he is a Jew. The public indignation is so great that the manager of the
hotel is obliged to defend the act, and puts in the plea that a man has the
right to manage his property as he pleases.

“But before our anger cools, let us remember the case of the colored
cadet at West Point. During his course he met with constant rebuffs. He
was systematically cut by his fellow-schoolmates. Instead of extending to
him a generous sympathy in his noble ambition, they met him with
sneers. All the feelings which should guide a chivalric soldier and lead him
to honor real heroism, were quenched by the intense prejudice against
color. Mean and despicable as is the spirit which prompted the-manager
of the Grand Union Hotel to
refuse to entertain the rich Jewish banker, that which influenced the
young men at West Point is still more deserving scorn and contempt. It
was meaner and more contemptible than cowardice.”

PREJUDICE AGAINST COLOR.

Within the last thirty years there has been a great change in public
sentiment relating to colored persons. That it has become wholly just
and kind cannot be shown; but it is far less unjust and cruel than it used
to be. In most of the old free States, at least, tidy, intelligent, and
courteous American citizens of African descent are treated with
increasing respect for their rights and feelings. In public conveyances we
find them enjoying all the consideration and comforts of other
passengers. At our public schools they have cordial welcome and fair
play. We often see them walking along the street with white
schoolmates who have evidently lost sight of the difference in
complexions. Colored boys march in the ranks of our school battalions
without receiving the slightest insult. Colored men have been United
States senators and representatives. Frederick Douglass is Marshal of the
District of Columbia.

“There is one conspicuous place, however, where caste-feeling seems
to have survived the institution of slavery, and that is West Point.
There the old prejudice is as strong, active, and mean as ever. Of this
there has been a recent and striking instance in the case of young Flipper
who has just graduated. It appears that during his whole course this
worthy young man was subjected to the most relentless ‘snubbing.’ All his
fellow-students avoided him habitually. In the recitation-room and upon
the parade ground, by day and by night, he was made to feel that he
belonged to an inferior and despised race, and that no excellence of
deportment, diligence in study, or rank in his class could entitle him to
the recognition accorded to every white dunce and rowdy. Yet with rare
strength of character he persevered, and when, having maintained the
standing of No. fifty in a class of seventy-six, he received his well-earned
diploma, there was a round of tardy applause.

“If West Point is to continue to be a school characterized by
aristocracy based upon creed, race, or color, so undemocratic and
unrepublican as to be out of harmony with our laws and institutions, it
will do more harm than good, and, like other nuisances, it should be
abated. If our rulers are sincere in their professions, and faithful to their
duties, a better state of things may be brought about. Military
arts must be acquired somewhere; but if the present Academy cannot be
freed from plantation manners, it may be well to establish a new one
without pro-slavery traditions, or, as has been suggested by the
Providence Journal, to endow military departments in the good colleges
where character and not color is the test of worth and manhood.”

(From the New York Sun.)
COLORED CADET FLIPPER.
TWO HUNDRED OF HIS NEW YORK ADMIRERS HONORING HIM WITH A RECEPTION.

“A reception was given last evening by Mr. James W. Moore, in the
rooms of the Lincoln Literary Musical Association, 132 West Twenty-seventh Street, to Lieutenant H. O. Flipper, of Georgia, the colored cadet
who has just graduated at West Point. Mr. Moore has had charge of the
sick room of Commodore Garrison since his illness. The chandeliers were
decorated with small flags. On a table on the platform rested a large
basket of flowers, bearing the card of Barrett H. Van Auken, a grandson
of Commodore Garrison. Among the pictures on the wall were many
relating to Lincoln and the emancipation proclamation. Cheerful music
was furnished from a harp and violin.

“The guests began to arrive about nine o'clock, the ladies in large
numbers, and the room was soon abreeze with a buzz of conversation and
the rustle of gayly-colored dresses and bright ribbons.

“The grand entree was at a quarter before ten. Lieutenant Flipper
entered the room in full uniform. A heavy yellow horse-hair plume fell
down over his cavalry helmet. His coat was new and bright, and glittered
with its gold buttons and tasselled aigulets. By his side hung a long
cavalry sabre in a gilt scabbard. His appearance was the signal for a buzz
of admiration. He is very tall and well made. Beside him was Mr. James
W. Moore. Behind him, as he walked through the thronged rooms, were
the Rev. Dr. Henry Highland Garnett, and Mrs. Garnett; the Rev. E. W.
S. Peck of the Thirty-fifth Street Methodist Church; Mr. Charles
Remond Douglass, son of Fred Douglass, and United States Consul in San
Domingo; the Rev. J. S. Atwell, of St. Philip's Episcopal Church; the
Rev. John Peterson; Professor Charles L. Reason, of the Forty-first
Street Grammar School; John J. Zuilille; Richard Robinson, and others.

“The Lieutenant was led upon the stage by Mr. Garnett and seated at
the extreme left, while Dr. Garnett took a seat at the extreme
right. Next to the Lieutenant sat Miss Martha J. Moore and Miss Fanny
McDonough, Mr. P. S. Porter, Dr. Ray, Mr. Atwell, and Professor
Reason completed the semicircle, of which Lieutenant Flipper and Dr.
Garnett formed the extremities. The Rev. Mr. Atwell sat in the middle.

“After all were seated, Dr. Garnett called Mr. Douglass forward to a
vacant seat on the platform. In introducing Lieutenant Flipper, Dr.
Garnett said he had honored himself and his race by his good scholarship
and pluck. Nowhere else was there, he thought, such iron-bound and
copper-covered aristocracy as in West Point. Who could have thought
that any one wearing the ‘shadowed livery of the burnished sun’ would
ever dare to be an applicant? Young Smith's high personal courage had
led him to resent a blow with a blow, and his career in the Academy was
cut short. Lieutenant Flipper had encountered the same cold glances, but
he had triumphed, and appeared before his friends in the beautiful
uniform of the national army. (Applause.) The Doctor believed he would
never disgrace it. (Applause, and waving of handkerchiefs by the ladies.)

“At the close of his address, Dr. Garnett said: ‘Ladies and gentlemen,
I take great pleasure in introducing to you Lieutenant H. O. Flipper.’ The
Lieutenant rose and bowed low, his hands resting on the hilt of his sabre.
He said nothing. Mr. Douglass was introduced, but excused himself from
speaking.

“Then Mr. James Crosby was called on. He said when the regiment in
which he was orderly sergeant had marched to Port Hudson, General—
met it, and said to Colonel Nelson: ‘Colonel, what do you call these?’ ‘I
call them soldiers,’ answered Colonel Nelson. ‘Well, if these are soldiers,
and if I've got to command niggers, the government is welcome to my
commission. Take them down to the right to General Payne. He likes
niggers.’ ‘Soon afterward,’ added Mr. Crosby, ‘occurred that terrible
slaughter of the colored troops which you all remember so well. This
year Lieutenant Flipper and a nephew of General—graduated in the
same class, and the colored man rated the highest.’

“After the addresses Lieutenant Flipper descended to the floor, and
without formal introductions shook hands with all. He had taken off his
cavalry helmet while sitting on the stage. Lemonade and ice-cream were
served to the guests. About two hundred persons, all colored, were
present. The Lieutenant will start for his home in Georgia on Monday.
He will join his regiment, the Tenth Cavalry, on the Rio Grande in
November.”

(From the Atlanta (Ga.) Constitution.)
FLIPPER AGAIN.

“Flipper has flopped up again, and seems to be decidedly in luck. He
has been transferred to the Tenth Cavalry, which is alluded to by a New
Orleans paper as the ‘Tenth Nubian Light Foot.’ This, it seems to us, is a
dark hint as to the color of this gallant corps, but as the State of Texas
lies somewhere between New Orleans and the Rio Grande, we suppose the
matter will be allowed to pass. But as to Flipper, Flipper has got his
regiment and he has had a reception at the hands of his colored friends
and acquaintances in New York. Common people are generally
embarrassed at receptions given to themselves, but not so with Flipper.
The reception was exceedingly high-toned, as well as highly colored, and
took place in the rooms of the ‘Lincoln Literary Musical Association.’
Flipper, rigged out in full uniform, with a yellow horse-hair plume
flowing felicitously over his cavalry helmet, sailed in, according to
accounts, just as chipper and as pert as you please. There was no lager
beer handed around, but the familiar sound of the band, which was
composed of a harp and a violin, made its absence painfully apparent.
There were few speeches, but the affair was decidedly formal. When
every thing was ready for business, a party of the name of Garnett rose
and introduced Flipper, and in the course of his remarks took occasion to
attack the newly-made lieutenant by accusing him of wearing ‘the
shadowed livery of the burnished sun.’ Whereupon Flipper got up, placed
his hands on the hilt of his bloody sabre, and bowed. The crowd then
shook hands all around, the music played, and lemonade and ice-cream
were brought out from their hiding-places, and all went merry as the
milkman's bell. As we said before, Flipper is in luck. He is a distinguished.
young man. He will reach home during the present week, and it is to be
hoped that his friends here are ready to give him an ice-cream lunch, or
something of that kind.”

(From the Christian Recorder.)
LIEUTENANT FLIPPER IN NEW YORK—HIS RECEPTION—
CALLS ON BELKNAP.

“Lieutenant Flipper has, by his manly conduct and noble bearing, his
superior intellectual powers shown his fellow-cadets and tutors that all
the colored student wants is a ‘chance.’ His term of four years, his
graduation, his appointment, will all mark a new era in American
history. That the ‘feat’ he has accomplished is appreciated
has been shown in too many ways to mention. His advent into
New York City was marked by many courtesies. His friends, not
unmindful of his new field and position, tendered him a grand reception
at Lincoln Literary Hall on the 30th of June. It was the writer's good
fortune to arrive at New York just in time to be present and pay him
similar honors with others. The hall was tastefully and beautifully
decorated with flowers and flags, representing the different States in the
Union. At the appointed hour the distinguished guests were seen
gathering, filling the hall to its utmost capacity. Among the number we
noticed especially Dr. H. H. Garnett and Processor Reason. A few and
appropriate remarks were made by Dr. Garnett as an introduction, after
him others followed. After these formal exercises were over, Mr. Flipper
came down from the rostrum and welcomed his friends by a hearty shake
of the hand, then all supplied the wants of the inner man by partaking of
cream, cake, and lemonade, which were so bountifully supplied. The
evening was certainly a pleasant one, as delightful as one could wish, and
I presume there was no one present who did not enjoy himself. In
addition to what has already been mentioned the occasion was still more
enlivened by the strains of sweet music. The exercises of the evening
being concluded, the distinguished guests departed each one for his home.
Lieutenant Flipper spent some days in New York, and during this visit, as
he tells me, ex-Secretary Belknap sent him a written invitation to call
on him. This he did, and was received very cordially and congratulated
on the victory achieved. He spoke of the pros and cons, and seemed
anxious that success might attend his footsteps in all the avenues of
army life. That Belknap is interested in the young soldier and desires his
success I do not deny; but whether the ex-Secretary would have given
him any assistance when in his power is a question I shall not presume to
answer.”

(From the Atlanta (Ga.) Constitution.)
FLYING AROUND FLIPPER.
HIS RECEPTION UPON HIS RETURN HOME—EAGERNESS TO SHAKE THE HAND OF THE “BAD MAN WID DE GUB'MENT STROPS ON!”—A SOCIAL RECEPTION ON MONDAY NIGHT.

“‘Flip's done come home!’ was the familiar, and yet admiring
manner in which the young negroes about town yesterday spread the
information that Second Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, of the Tenth
Cavalry, and the first colored graduate of the United States Military
Academy at West Point, had arrived. His coming has created quite a
sensation in colored circles, and when he appeared upon the streets, last
evening, taking a drive with his delighted father, he was the cynosure of
all the colored people and the object of curious glances from the whites.
The young man had ‘been there before,’ however, and took all the ogling
with patience and seeming indifference. Once in awhile he would
recognize an old acquaintance and greet him with a smile and a bow.

“The last number of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper contains
an excellent likeness of Flipper, dressed in his cadet uniform. His features
betray his intelligence, and indicate the culture which he has acquired by
hard study. His arrival here was the occasion of a buzz about the Union
depot. His parents and a number of intimate friends were present to
receive him, and the scene was an interesting one to all concerned.

“‘Dat's him!’ said a dozen of the curious darkeys who stood off
and hadn't the honor of the youth's acquaintance. They seemed to feel
lonesome.

“‘He's one ob de United States Gazettes!’ shouted a young darkey, in reply to a query from a strange negro who has moved here since Flipper
went away.

“But the young officer was speedily spirited out of the crowd and
taken home to his little bed for a rest.

“On the streets he was greeted by many of our citizens who knew
him, and who have watched his career with interest. His success was
complimented, and he was urged to pursue his course in the same spirit
hereafter. Among his colored friends he was a lion, and they could not
speak their praises in language strong enough.

“A darkey would approach the young man, cautiously, feel of his
buttons and clothes, and enthusiastically remark: “‘Bad man wid de
gub'ment strops on!’

“These were the expressions of admiration that best suited the ideas
of his delighted acquaintances. They will give him a reception on
Monday night next, at which all his friends will be present, and some of
our leading white citizens will be invited to be present.

“We will try and give the young man's views and experiences in tomorrow's
issue.”

This paper is noted for its constant prevarication. Whatever it says about negroes is scarcely worth noticing, for be it in their favor or not it is
almost certainly untrue. My “delighted father” was not
within three hundred miles of Atlanta when I reached that
place. I did not appear on the streets in uniform for
several days after my arrival, and then only at the request
of many friends and an officer of the Second Infantry
then at McPherson Barracks.

(From the Atlanta (Ga.) Republican)

“Lieutenant Flipper arrived in our city last week on a visit to his
friends. His father lives in Thomasville, but he was educated in this city.
His intelligence and manly course has won for him the praise of even the
Bourbons.”

(From the, Atlanta (Ga.) Republican.)

We acknowledge the courtesy of an invitation to a reception given
to Lieutenant H. O. Flipper of the Tenth Cavalry, by his colored friends
in Atlanta. Circumstances beyond our control prevented our attending.

“We are informed it was a pleasant affair, and that Lieutenant
Flipper embraced the opportunity to give something of his four years'
experience at West Point, and to correct some of the misstatements of
the Atlanta Constitution concerning the treatment he received while a
cadet at the Military Academy. An article alluding to this subject has
been crowded out this week, but will appear in our next issue.

(From the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle and
Constitutionalist.)
A FALSEHOOD.

“The Cincinnati Gazette says: ‘Lieutenant Flipper, the young
colored man who is guilty of having been graduated with credit from
West Point, continues to be the butt of Georgia Democratic journals.’
We would like to know where the Gazette gets its information. Flipper
has been treated with nothing but kindness in Georgia. Wherever he has
reviewed the colored military, accounts of the reviews have been
published, but we have yet to see a single word in a Georgia paper in
disparagement or ridicule of the colored graduate.”

Witness the following from the Atlanta Constitution:

FLIPPER AS A FRAUD.
FREEMAN'S PROTEGE ON SOUTHERN CIVILIZATION—HE TALKS AT THE RECEPTION AND MAKES OF HIMSELF AN ASS—THE ANOMALOUS CREATURE ON EXHIBITION—HE SHOWS
THE CLOVEN FOOT.

“Last night the colored people of the city gave a ‘reception’ to
Flipper, of the United States Army. They did this from a feeling of pride
over the fact that one of their color, a townsman, had succeeded in
attaining his rank. They doubtless, little suspected that he would make
such use of the occasion as he did. More than one of them so expressed
their feeling before the evening ended. The relations between the races in
this city have for years been such as to make remarks like those in which
Flipper indulged not only uncalled for, but really distasteful. They are not
to be blamed for his conduct.

“The crowd that gathered in the hall on the corner of Mitchell and
Broad Streets was large. It was composed almost entirely of well-dressed
and orderly colored people. There were present several of the white
male and female teachers of the negro schools; also, some of our white
citizens occupying back seats, who were drawn thither by mere curiosity.

“Flipper was dressed lavishly in regimentals and gold cord, and sat
upon the stage with his immense and ponderous cavalry sabre tightly
buckled around him. He had the attitude of Wellington or Grant at a
council of war. He was introduced to the audience by J. O. Wimbish, a
high-toned negro politician (as was) of this city, who bespattered the
young warrior with an eulogy such as no school-master would have
written for less than $5 C. O. D. It was real slushy in its
copiousness and
diffusiveness.

FRIP FIRES OFF.

He arose with martial mien, and his left hand resting on his sabre
hilt. He said:

“‘Some weeks ago he had been called upon at a reception in New
York to make a speech, but he had reminded the gentleman who called
upon him that he had been taught to be a soldier and not an orator.
While upon this occasion he still maintained that lie was not an orator,
yet he would tell them something of his career at West
Point. He referred to his colored predecessors in the Academy and their
fates, particularly of Smith, whose last year there was his (F.'s) first.
During that year, on Smith's account, he had received his worst
treatment at the Academy. Prejudice against us was strong there at that
time. During his first encampment he had a better time than almost any
man in his class. In 1874 Smith left, and a rumor prevailed that he (F )
was afraid to stay and was going to resign. Colonel Upton, the
commandant, sent for him to his house, told him not to do so, but to
stick it out. Of course he had no intention of resigning, and he followed
this superfluous advice. So far as the cadets were concerned they always
treated me fairly, would speak to me, and some came to my room and
talked with me, but the only thing they did that was wrong, perhaps, was
that they would not associate with me openly. The officers always
treated me as well as they did any other cadet. All these reports about
my bad treatment there, especially in Southern newspapers, are
absolutely false.

“‘I will read and comment upon some of these articles. In The
Constitution of last Saturday it said I had the hardest four years of any
cadet who ever passed through the Academy. That is in some respects
true, but not wholly so. Speaking of Ben Butler's son, I am proud to say
that among the three hundred cadets I hadn't a better friend than the son
of the Massachusetts statesman. (Applause.) As to Mr Bigelow's son,
mentioned here, I know him well, and his whole family—his father, the
distinguished ex-Secretary of State, his mother and his two sisters, and
have met them at their home. Mrs. Bigelow, recognizing my position,
and thinking to assure my feelings, sent me a nice box of fruit with her
compliments.’

“He then commented on articles from Beecher's Christian Union, the
New York Tribune, Harper's Weekly, and the New York Telegram,
characterizing many of their statements about himself as false.

SOCIAL EQUALITY IN THE ARMY.

“The article last named was about social equality in the army.
Flipper said that he was cordially met by the army officers in
Chattanooga. In return he paid his respects to the commandant and was
introduced and shown through the barracks. He was treated with every
courtesy.

“‘How it is here you have all seen as I walked about the city. I have
walked with the officers of the garrison here several times today, even
up and down Whitehall Street, and one of them invited me into
Schumann's drug store, and had a glass of soda together. I
know it is not a usual thing to sell to colored people, but we got it.
(Laughter and applause.) And to-night as Mr. J. O. Wimbish and myself
were coming to the hall, we met with one of the officers at the corner,
and went into Schumann's again. We called for soda-water, and got it
again! (Applause.) And I called at the barracks, through military
courtesy, and paid my respects to the commandant. I understand that the
officers there have had my case under consideration, and have
unanimously agreed that I am a graduate of the national Academy, and
hold a commission similar to their own, and am entitled to the same
courtesy as any other officer. I have been invited to visit them at their
quarters to-morrow. These things show you something of social equality
in the army, and when this happens with officers who have lived in the
South, and had opportunity to be tainted with Southern feeling, I expect
still less trouble from this source when I reach my regiment and among
officers who have not lived in the South and had occasion to be tainted
in this way. The gentlemen of the army are generally better educated
than the people of the South.’

“He spoke of his graduation and of the applause with which he was
greeted. He closed by thanking his audience.

FLOURISHING HIS FLIPPER.

“Then Flipper was escorted upon the floor, and the
announcement was made that all who desired could now be introduced to
the youth.

“The first man to receive this distinguished honor was George
Thomas, the Assistant United States Attorney. He was followed closely
by several Northern school-marms and teachers, and a host of the
colored people. “After shaking, the crowd took ice-cream and cake and adjourned. Sic transit!”

I pass over the preceding article with the silent
contempt it deserves. Some of the papers commented
upon it. I give two such articles:

(From the Atlanta (Ga.) Republican.)

“The Atlanta Constitution, true to principle, comes out in a
slanderous attack upon Lieutenant Flipper. In its issue of Tuesday, July
10th, it calls him a fraud. Would to heaven we had ten thousand such
frauds in Georgia for the good of the State and progress in general!

“It takes exception, too, to the manner in which the colored
lieutenant appeared at the reception given by the colored people in his
honor. He was ‘lavishly dressed in full regimentals,’ it says, ‘with gold
cord. He sat upon the stage with his massive and ponderous sword,
looking like Wellington or Grant in war council. He made remarks
uncalled for and distasteful.’ Oh dear! Oh!

“Now we (that is I, this individual, Mr. Editor, for I would not
assume your grand editorial pronoun) should like to know how the
Constitution would have the young officer dress. Surely it was entirely
proper and becoming that he should appear in full regimental cap, coat,
boots, spurs, and all, full fledged, just as he issued forth from West Point.

“In the first place it was a novel sight for the colored people. Surely
the Constitution would not rob us of the privilege and pleasure of seeing
in full military costume the first and only one of our race who has been
permitted to pass through West Point with honor.

“In regard to the ostentatious manner in which the lieutenant
conducted himself on that evening, nothing could be further from the
truth. In fact, the general comment of the evening by both black and
white was on the modesty of his bearing.

“It is not strange, however, that the Constitution, whose judgment
and sense of right and justice have been perverted through years of
persistent sinning, should see things in a different light.

“The ‘uncalled for and distasteful’ remarks were doubtless those
made in regard to the fact that Northern people coming into contact
with Southern prejudice are tainted by it, and that West Pointers are
generally better educated than the Southern people. Of course this would
stir up the wrath of the Constitution; for what could be more hateful in
its sight than truth?

“JUSTITIA.”(From the New York World.)

Lieutenant Flipper would have shown better sense if he had not
made any speech at Atlanta. But if he was to make any speech at all
upon the subject of his treatment at West Point, it could scarcely be
expected that he should make one more modest, manly and sensible than
that which is reported in our news columns.”

Here are two other articles of the abusive order from
the Southern press:

(From the Griffin (Ga.) News.)

“J. C. Freeman, the only white man in Georgia that ever disgraced
the military of the United States, was in the city yesterday. It will be
remembered that this individual at one time misrepresented this district
in Congress, and during that time he appointed one negro by color, and
Flipper by name, to West Point. But then, nevertheless, the negro is as
good as he is, and better too, and we have no doubt but what Freeman
thinks he did a big thing, but the good people of the State think different.
This notice is not paid for.”

(From the Warrenton (Ga.) Clipper.)

“The following is the way the Southerners solidify their section—that
is, it is one way—the other, being the masked Kuklux. What it says,
however, about the North, is just about so:

“‘Lieutenant Flipper, the colored cadet, is in Macon, and the
darkies there think him a bigger man that General Grant. They'll want
him to be President after awhile, and the Northern people will then be
the first to say no.’”

The article of social equality referred to was clipped
from the New York Evening Telegram. It is as follows:

NEGRO EQUALITY IN THE ARMY.

“There is no danger of negro equality, oh no! But it will be so
delightful for the white soldier to be commanded to pace the greensward
before the tent of Lieutenant Flipper, the negro graduate of West Point,
and the white soldier will probably indulge in a strange train of thought
while doing it. And when promotion comes, and the negro becomes
Majah Flippah, or Colonel Flippah, the prospects of the white captains
and lieutenants will be so cheerful, particularly if they have families and
are stationed at some post in the far West, where any neglect in the
social courtesies toward their superior officer would probably go hard
with them and their families.”

To go back to the article “Flying Around Flipper,”
I want to say the white people of Georgia can claim no
credit for any part of my education. The Storrs school
was not a public school at the time I
went to school there. It did not become such until I went
to West Point. The Atlanta University receives $8000 per
annum from the State of Georgia in lieu of the share of
the agricultural land scrip due to the colored people for
educational purposes. Efforts have been made to take
even this from the university, but all have been failures.

(From the Macon (Ga.) Telegram and Messenger.)
BATTALION PARADE.

“On Monday evening the colored companies of the city had a
battalion parade and review.

“The three companies, viz., the Lincoln Guards, the Bibb County
Blues, and the Central City Light Infantry, formed on Fourth Street, and
to martial music marched up Mulberry to First, down
First to Walnut, up Walnut to Spring Street, and there formed for dress
parade and inspection.

“On the right of the line were the Light Infantry under Captain W.
H. DeLyons. The Blues bore the colors, and were commanded by Spencer
Moses, Captain, and the Guards supported the extreme left. T. N. M.
Sellers, Captain of the Lincoln Guards, acted as major. After some
preliminary movements the troops were inspected by Lieutenant Flipper,
the colored graduate of West Point. The troops then marched around the
inspecting officer.

“The line was again formed, and the major addressed Lieutenant
Flipper in a short speech, in which was expressed gratitude to the
government and thanks to the inspecting officer.

“Lieutenant Flipper replied in a few very sensible and appropriate
remarks: That he wished all success, honor, and thanks to the companies
for their kindness and courtesy. Hoped they would all make soldiers and
tight for their country. That he was a soldier rather than a speaker. That
he had tried to do his duty at West Point, and that he expected to
continue to try to do his duty, and ‘again thanking you for your
hospitality, kindness, and attention to myself, I renew my wish for your
future success.’

“After the speaking there was a general hand-shaking. The entire
parade was very creditable indeed, showing considerable proficiency
in the tactics, and was witnessed by a large crowd of about twelve
hundred of whites and blacks.

“This is the first review ever held by the colored troops in the city
of Macon. About eighty men rank and file were out. The colors used was
the United States flag. The uniforms were tasty and well gotten up.”

There was a very scurrilous article in one of the
Charleston (S. C.) papers. I have not been able to get it. I
am informed that after commenting on my graduation,
assignment, etc., it indulged in much speculation as to my
future. It told how I would live, be treated, etc., how I
would marry, beget “little Flippers,” and rear them up to
“don the army blue,” and even went far enough to predict
their career. It was a dirty piece of literature, and I am
not very sorry I couldn't obtain it.

(From the Atlanta (Ga.) Republican.)
SUCCESSFUL COLORED YOUNG MEN.

“At length a colored youth has overcome the difficulties that
surrounded him as a student at the West Point Military Academy, and
has graduated, with the respect of his white associates who were at first
very much opposed to him. Mr. Flipper, the successful young man is a
Georgia boy, and was appointed a cadet to West Point from the Fifth
Congressional District—the Atlanta District—by Congressman Freeman, we believe. He was raised by Rev. Frank Quarles, of this city, and is regarded by him almost as a son.

“John F. Quarles, Esq., the son of Rev. Frank Quarles, is spending a
few days with his father. Mr. J. F. Quarles was educated in Pennsylvania
since the war, and returned to Georgia in 1870. He read law and was
admitted to the Augusta bar after a careful examination before three of
the ablest lawyers at that bar, which is noted for its talent. He passed a
very creditable examination, and is, we believe, the only colored man
who has been admitted to the Georgia bar. He was soon after appointed
consul to Port Mahon, in the Mediterranean Sea, and served with credit
until he was legislated
of office by the Democratic Congress. President Hayes recently
appointed him consul to Malaga, Spain.

“Rev. Mr. Quarles is justly proud of two such boys.”

Here, too, is a venerable colored man claiming the
honor of having raised me. Why, I never was away from
my mother and father ten consecutive hours in my life
until I went to West Point. It is possible, nay, very
probable, that he jumped me on his knee, or boxed me
soundly for some of my childish pranks, but as to raising
me, that honor is my mother's, not his.

Before leaving West Point the following communications were sent me from the head-quarters of the Liberia Exodus Association, 10 Mary Street,
Charleston S. C. I replied in very courteous terms that I
was opposed to the whole scheme, and declined to have
any thing to do with it. I was in Charleston later in the
year, and while there I was besieged by some of the
officers of the association, who had not yet despaired of
making me “Generalissimo of Liberia's Army,” as one of
them expressed himself. Wearied of their importunities,
and having no sympathy with the movement, I published
the following in the Charleston News and Courier:

FLIPPER ON LIBERIA.

“Lieutenant Flipper, of the Tenth United States Cavalry, the newly-
fledged colored West Pointer, has something to say on the question of
the Liberian Exodus, which will be interesting to the people of his race.
The lieutenant, by his creditable career as a cadet at the Military
Academy, has certainly earned the right to be heard by the colored
population with at least as much respect and attention as has been given
to the very best of the self-constituted apostles of the Exodus. Here is
his letter:

To the Editor of The News and Courier:

“‘SIR: A rumor has come to me from various sources, to the effect-that I have promised to resign my commission in the army after serving the two years required by law, and to then accept another as General Commander-in-Chief of the Liberian Army.

“‘It has also come to my notice that many, particularly in the counties adjoining Georgia, are being persuaded, and intend going to Liberia because I have made this promise.

“‘I shall consider it no small favor if you will state that there is no law requiring me to serve two years, that I never authorized any such statement as here made, that I have no sympathy whatever for the “Liberian Exodus” movement, that I give it neither countenance nor support, but will oppose it whenever I feel that the occasion requires it. I am not at all disposed to flee from one shadow to grasp at another—from the supposed error of Hayes's Southern policy to the prospective glory of commanding Liberia's army.

DEAR FRIEND AND BROTHER: Your future, as foreshadowed by the
press of this country, looks dismal enough. We have conned its remarks
with mingled feelings of sympathy and exultation. Exultation! because
we believe fate has something higher and better in store for you than
they or you ever dreamed. Inclosed please find copy of a letter to the
Honorable the Secretary of State. We have not yet received a reply.
Also, inclosed, a number of the Missionary Record containing the call
referred to. We have mentioned you in our note to His Excellency
Anthony Gardner, President of Liberia. Please communicate with us and
say if this letter and inclosures do not open up a bright vista in the future
to your imagination and reasonable aspirations? We picture to ourselves
our efforts to obtain a line of steamers crowned with success; and behold
you as commander-in-chief organizing and marshalling Liberia's military
forces in the interests of humanity at large, and the especial
development of a grand African nationality that shall command the
respect of the nations:

So Afric shall resume her seat in theHall of Nations vast;And strike upon her restrung lyreThe requiem of the past:And sing a song of thanks to God,For his great mercy shown,In leading, with an outstretched arm,The benighted wanderer home. Selah!

Provide yourself at once with maps, etc., master the chorography of
Africa in general, and the topography of Liberia in particular, that is to
say, the whole range of the Kong mountains, including its eastern slope
on to the Niger, our natural boundary! for the next thirty years! after
that, onward! Cultivate especially the artillery branch of the service;
this is the arm with which we can most surely overawe all thought of
opposition among the native tribes; whilst military engineering will dot
out settlements with forts, against which, they will see, 'twould be
madness to hurl themselves. We desire to absorb and cultivate them. The
great obstacle to this is their refusal to have their girls educated. This
results from their institution of polygamy. Slavery is the same the world
over—it demands the utter ignorance of its victims. We must compel
their enlightenment. Have we not said enough? Does not your
intelligence grasp, and your ambition spring to the great work? Let us
hear from you. You can be a great power in assisting to carry out our
Exodus. If you desire we will elect you a member of our council and keep
you advised of our proceedings. We forward you by this mail some of our
numbers and the Charleston News of the 20th. See the article on
yourself, and let it nerve you to thoughts and deeds of greatness. Let us
know something about Baker and McClennan. Are they at Annapolis?
Cadets? (We will require a navy as well as an army.) Also something
about yourself. What part of the State are you from? Hon. R. H. Cain is
not here, or probably he could inform us.

Affectionately yours. By our President,B. F. PORTER,Pastor of Morris Brown Chapel.GEO. CURTIS, Corresponding Secretary.P. S.—We have received a reply from the Secretary of State—very
courteous in its tone—but “regrets” to say that he has “no special means
of forming an opinion upon the subject. The measure referred to would
require an Act of Congress, in respect to whose future proceedings it
would not be prudent to venture a prediction.”
The answer is all we expected. We have made ourselves known
to, and are recognized by, the Executive; our next step is to address
Senators Morton and Blaine—Hon. R. H. Cain will see to it, that the
question is pushed in the House. G. C.COPY.Rooms OF THE LIBERIA EXODUS ASSOCIATION,
10 MARY STREET, CHARLESTON, S. C.
June 14, 1877.HON. Wm. J. EVARTS,Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.:

Sir: Inclosed please find a call on our people to prepare to organize
for an exodus to Liberia.

We think it explains itself, but any further explanation called for we
will gladly supply.

In the event of a sufficient response to our call, please inform us if
there is any probability of our government placing one or more steamers
on the route between here, or Port Royal, and Liberia for our
transportation; and if so, then the charge for passage; and if, to those
unable to pay ready money, time will be given, and the payment
received in produce?

Tens of thousands are now eager to go from this State alone, but we
want a complete exodus, if possible, from the whole United States;
thus leaving you a homogeneous people, opening up an immense market
for your products, giving a much required impetus to your trade,
commerce, and manufactures; and for ourselves attaining a position
where, removed from under the shade of a “superior race,” we will have
full opportunity for developing whatever capacity of soul growth our
Creator has endowed us with.

That Africa will be developed, and chiefly through the
instrumentality of its five millions of descendants in America, is certain.
Now the question is, who shall have the chief handling and consequent
benefit of this grand instrument, next to itself, of course, for we are
treating of a sentient instrumentality. We beseech you that you do not
send us, Columbus-like, from court to court offering the development of
a new world to incredulous ears. We are asking the President of Liberia,
the American Colonization Society, and all friends of the measure, for
their aid, advice, and co-operation.

We desire to carry our first shipment of emigrants not later than
September or October proximo.

We have the honor to be, Sir, in all respect and loyalty, yours to
command.

Here is an article from some paper in New Orleans.
Contempt is all it deserves. I am sure all my readers will
treat it as I do. Frogs will croak, won't they?

LIEUTENANT FLIPPER.

“With the successful examination of the colored cadet Flipper, at
West Point, and his appearance in the gazette as a full-fledged lieutenant
of cavalry, the long vexed question has been settled just as it ceased to be
a question of any practical import. Out of three or four experiments
Flipper is the one success. As the whole South has now passed into
Democratic control, and the prospect for Southern Republican
congressmen is small, the experiments will hardly be repeated, and he
must stand for those that might have been.

“It would be interesting to know how Flipper is to occupy his time.
The usual employments of young lieutenants are of a social nature, such
as leading the German at Narraganset Pier and officiating in select
private theatricals in the great haunts of Fashion. Flipper is described as
a little bow-legged grif of the most darkly coppery hue, and of a general
pattern that even the most enthusiastic would find it hard to adopt.
Flipper is not destined to uphold the virtues and graces of his color in the
salons of Boston and New York, then, nor can he hope to escape the
disagreeably conspicuous solitude he now inhabits among his fellow-
officers through any of those agencies of usage and familiarity which
would result if other Flippers were to follow him into the army and help
to dull the edge of the innovation. Just what Flipper is to do with himself
does not seem altogether clear. Even the excitement of leading his men
among the redskins will be denied him, now that Spotted Tail has
pacified the malcontents and Sitting Bull has retired to the Canadas. It is
to be presumed that those persons who patronized Flipper and had him
sent to West Point are gratified at the conclusion, and there is a sort of
reason for believing that Flipper himself is contented with the lot
he has accepted; but whether the experiment is worth all the
annoyance it occasions is a problem not so easily disposed of.

“His prospects don't appear to be very brilliant as regards social
delights or domestic enjoyments, but of course that is Flipper's business—
not ours. It merely struck us that things had happened a little
unfortunately for him, to become the lonesome representative of his
race in the midst of associations that object to him and at a time when
the supply of colored officers is permanently cut off. Personally we are
not interested in Flipper.”

I am indebted to a Houston Texas, paper for the following:

THE COLORED WEST POINTER.

“We had a call yesterday from Lieutenant H. O. Flipper, of the
United States Army. Mr. Flipper, it will be remembered, is the colored
cadet who graduated at the Military Academy at West Point last session,
occupying in his class a position that secured his appointment to the
cavalry service, a mark of distinction. He was gazetted as second
lieutenant in the Tenth Cavalry, and he enjoys the honor of being the
first colored man who has passed by all the regular channels into an
official station in the army.

“This young officer is a bright mulatto, tall and soldierly, with a
quiet unobtrusive manner, and the bearing of a gentleman. As the
forerunner of his race in the position he occupies, he is placed in a
delicate and trying situation, a fact which he realizes. He remarked
that he knew it was one of the requirements of an officer of the army
to be a gentleman, a man of honor and integrity under all circumstances,
and he hoped to be equal to his duties in this regard. He
goes on to Fort Concho to join his regiment, which is likely to have
work to do soon, if there is anything in the signs of the times.

“We bespeak for this young officer the just consideration to which
the difficulties of his position entitle him.”

I was originally ordered to Fort Concho, but at Houston,
Texas I met my lieutenant-colonel, who informed me that my
company was en route to Fort Sill. My orders were then
changed, and I proceeded to Sill.

Here is another article from a paper in the same place:

THE DIFFERENCE.

“The Age yesterday had a call from Henry O. Flipper second
lieutenant Tenth United States Cavalry, who is on his way under orders
to join his regiment at Fort Concho. So far there is nothing very unusual
in this item, but interest will be given to it when we add that Lieutenant
Flipper is the first colored graduate of West Point. He went to the
institution from Georgia, and graduated last June, fifty-fifth in a class of
seventy-six. There is a preponderance of white blood in his veins, and in
general appearance, except for color, he is a perfect image of Senator
Plumb of Kansas. He reports that since he has struck the South he has
been treated like a gentleman, which is something different from his
experience in the North. He made the acquaintance of Senator Maxey at
West Point—the Senator himself being a graduate of the Academy—and
regards him as a very pleasant gentleman. During the ten minutes he
spent in the Age editorial rooms several prominent democrats of the
city called to see and shake hands with him, partly out of curiosity to
see the colored cadet who was so bitterly persecuted by Northern students
at West Point, and partly to bid him a welcome to the South such as none
of his political party friends would have thought of giving him in the
North. Before many years he will be, as all intelligent colored men will
be, a democrat.”

Wherever I have travelled in the South it has been
thrown into my face that the Southern people had, would,
and did treat me better than the Northern people. This is
wholly untrue. It is true that the men generally speak
kindly and treat me with due courtesy, but never in a
single instance has a Southern man introduced me to his
wife or even invited me to his house. It was done North
in every place I stopped. In many cases, when invited to
visit gentlemen's residences, they have told me they
wanted their wives to meet me. A distinguished New
York lady, whose name has occurred in print
several times with mine, gave me with her own hands a
handsome floral tribute, just after receiving my diploma.
During five months' stay in the South, after my
graduation, not a single Southern white woman spoke to
me. I mistake. I did buy some articles from one who kept
a book-store in a country town in Georgia. This is the only
exception. This is the way Southern people treated me
better than Northern people. The white people (men) of
Houston, Texas, showed me every possible courtesy
while I was there. My treatment there was in high and
honorable contrast to that I received in Atlanta.

Here are two articles that have a few words to say
about me. I adopt and quote them at length:

(From the New York Tribune.)
WEST POINT.

“The examinations of the boys in the national school have become
an object of national interest this year more than any other, simply
because there is a stagnation of other news. While the public is waiting
for an outbreak from Kars or the new party, it has leisure to look into
the condition of these incipient officers. Hence reporters have crowded
to West Point, the Board of Visitors and cadets have both been
quickened to unwonted zeal by the consciousness of the blaze of
notoriety upon them, and the country has read with satisfaction each
morning of searching examinations and sweeping cavalry charges, giving
a shrug however, at the enthusiastic recommendation
of certain members of the board that the number of yearly
appointments should be doubled or quadrupled. In this cold ague of
economy with which the nation is attacked just now, and which leaves
old army officers unpaid for a disagreeably long time, the chances of any
addition to the flock in the nest are exceedingly small. In fact, while the
average American in war time recognized the utility of a trained band of
tacticians, he is apt to grumble at their drain upon his pocket in piping
times of peace. Only last year he relieved himself in Congress and
elsewhere by a good deal of portentous talking
as to the expediency of doing away with the naval and military free
schools altogether. He has, in short, pretty much the opinion of the
army officer that Hodge has of his parish priest, ‘useful enough for
Sundays and funerals, but too consumedly expensive a luxury for week
days.’

“This opinion, no doubt, appears simply ludicrous and vulgar to the
gallant young fellows who are being trained for their country's service up
the Hudson, and who already look upon themselves as its supports and
bulwarks, but there is a substratum of common-sense in it which we
commend to their consideration, because, if for no other reason, that the
average American is the man who pays their bills and to whom they owe
their education and future livelihood. If they do not accept his idea of the
conduct and motives of action by which they may properly repay him
the debt they owe, it certainly is fitting that their own idea should be
indisputably a higher one. We begin to doubt whether it is not much
lower. The country, in establishing this school, simply proposed to train
a band of men skilled to serve it when needed as tacticians, engineers, or
disciplinarians; the more these men founded their conduct on the
bases of good sense, honor, and republican principles, the better and
higher would be their service. The idea of the boys themselves, however,
within later years, seems to be that they constitute an aristocratic class
(moved by any thing but republican principles) entitled to lay down their
own laws of good-breeding and honor. Accounts which reach us of their
hazing, etc., and notably their treatment of the colored cadets, show
that these notions are quite different from those accepted elsewhere.
Now such ideas would be natural in pupils of the great French or Austrian
military schools, where admission testifies to high rank by birth or to
long, patient achievement on the part of the student. But really our boys
at West Point must remember that they belong to a nation made up of
working and trades men; that they are the sons of just such people; that
the colored laborer helps to pay for their support as well as that of the
representative of his race who sits beside them. Furthermore, they
have done nothing as yet to entitle them to assume authority in such
matters. They have recited certain lessons, learned to drill and ride, and
to wear their clothes with precision; but something more is needed. The
knight of old was skilled in gentleness and fine courtesy to the weak and
unfortunate as well as in horsemanship. It was his manners, not his
trousers, which were beyond reproach.

“It is not as trifling a matter as it seems that these young fellows
should thus imbibe mistaken ideas of their own position or the
requirements of real manliness and good-breeding. The greatest mistakes
in the war were in consequence of just such defects in some of our leading
officers, and the slaughter of the Indians in the SouthWest upon two
occasions proceeded from their inability to recognize the rights of men
of a different color from themselves. Even in trifles, however, such
matters follow the rule of inexorable justice—as, for instance, in this case
of Cadet Flipper, who under ordinary circumstances might have passed
without notice, but is now known from one end of the country to the
other as a credit to his profession in scholarship, pluck, and real dignity;
while his classmates are scarcely mentioned, though higher in rank,
except in relation to their cruel and foolish conduct toward him.”

(From the New York World.)

“WEST POINT, August 29.—In my earnest desire to do justice to
the grand ball last night I neglected to mention the arrival of the new
colored candidate for admission into the United States, Military
Academy, although I saw him get off at the steamboat lauding and was a
witness to the supreme indifference with which he was treated, save by a
few personal friends. Minnie passed the physical examination easily, for
he is a healthy mulatto. Whether this stern Alma Mater will matriculate
him is still a question. It is really astonishing, and perhaps alarming, in
view of the enthusiastic endeavors of the Republican party to confer
upon the colored race all the rights and privileges of citizens of the
United States, to see with what lofty contempt every candidate for
academic honors who is in the slightest degree ‘off color,’ is received. As
you are aware, there is at present a colored, or partly colored, cadet in
the Freshman Class—Whittaker by name. This poor young mulatto is
completely ostracized not only by West Point society, but most
thoroughly by the corps of cadets itself. Flipper got through all right,
and, strange to say, the cadets seem to have a certain kind of respect for
him, although he was the darkest ‘African’ that has yet been seen among
the West Point cadets. Flipper had remarkable pluck and nerve, and was
accorded his parchment—well up on the list, too—at last graduation day. He is made of sterner staff than poor Whittaker.

“A most surprising fact is that not one of the cadets—and I think I
might safely include the professors—tries to dissemble his animosity
for the black, mulatto, or octoroon candidate. When I asked a
cadet to-day some questions concerning the treatment of Cadet
Whittaker by the corps, he said : ‘Oh, we get along very well, sir. The
cadets simply ignore him, and he understands very well that we do not
intend to associate with him.’ This cadet and several others were asked
whether Minnie, if admitted, would also be ostracized socially. Their only
answer was: ‘Certainly; that is well understood by all. We don't
associate with these men, but they have all the rights that we have
nevertheless.’ I asked if he knew whether Whittaker attended the ball last
night. The cadet said he didn't see him at the ball, but that he might have
been looking on from the front stoop! ‘How does this young man
Whittaker usually amuse himself when the rest of the boys are at play?’
I asked. ‘Well, we don't get much play, and I think that Whittaker has as
much as he can do to attend to his studies. He managed to pull through at
last examination, but I doubt if he ever graduates,’ was the reply. Meeting
another cadet to whom I had been introduced I asked what he had heard
of the prospects of the new colored candidate, Minnie. ‘I haven't heard
any thing, but I hope he won't get through,’ said the cadet. Another cadet
who stood near said that the case of Flipper, who graduated so
successfully, was an exceptional one. Flipper didn't care for any thing
except to graduate, but he was confident that these other colored cadets
would fail. So far as I have been able to ascertain, the Faculty have never
attempted to prevent the colored cadets from having an equal chance
with their white fellows. In fact under the present management it would
be next to impossible for them to do so.”

I can't let this article pass without quoting a few words from a letter I have from Whittaker, now at West Point. He says:

“I have been treated bully since I came in from camp (of summer of
'77). Got only one ‘skin’ last month (Deccember, '77). I am still under ‘—’
(tactical officer), and he treats me bully; he wanted to have a man
court-martialled, when we were in camp, for refusing to close up on me.
One day a corporal put me in the rear rank when there were plebes in the
front rank, and—told him if any such act ever occurred again he would
have him and the file confined to the guard-house. He has never ‘skinned’
me since you left. He is O.K. towards me, and the others are afraid of
him . . . . As I am sitting in my room on third floor, sixth ‘div,’ a kind
of
sadness creeps over me, for I am all alone. Minnie went home on last
Friday. He was weighed in the ‘math’ scale and found wanting. The poor
fellow did not study his ‘math’ and could not help being ‘found.’ He was treated fairly and squarely, but he did not study. I did all I could
to help and encourage him, but it was all in vain. He did not like—(an
instructor) very much, and a carelessness seized him, which resulted in
his dismissal. I was sorry to see him go away, and he himself regretted it
very much. He saw his great error only when it was too late. On the day
he left he told me that he did not really study a ‘math’ lesson since he
entered; and was then willing to give any thing to remain and redeem
himself. He had a very simple subject on examination, and when he came
back he told me that he had not seen the subject for some two or three
weeks before, and he, consequently, did not know what to put on the
board. All he had on it was wrong, and he could not make his
demonstration.”

The World reporter seems to be as ignorant as some
of the others. I was by no means the “darkest ‘African’
that has yet been seen among the West Point cadets.”
Howard, who reported in 1870 with Smith, was
unadulterated, as also were Werle and White, who
reported in 1874. There were others who were also
darker than I am: Gibbs and Napier, as I am informed. I
never saw the last two.

The Brooklyn Eagle is more generous in its views. It
proposes to utilize me. See what it says:

“Probably Lieutenant Flipper could be made much more usefu than
as a target for Indian bullets, if our government would withdraw him
from the army and place him in some colored college, where he could
teach the pupils engineering, so that when they reach Africa they could
build bridges, railroads, etc.”

This article was signed by “H. W. B.” It is not
difficult to guess who that is.

I have had considerable correspondence with an
army officer, a stranger to me, on this subject of
being detailed at some college. He is of opinion it would
be best for me. I could not agree with him. After I joined
my company an effort (unknown to me) was made by the
Texas Mechanical and Agricultural College to have me
detailed there. It was published in the papers that I had
been so detailed. I made some inquiries, learned of the
above statements, and that the effort had completely
failed. Personally I'd rather remain with my company. I
have no taste and no tact for teaching. I would decline
any such appointment.

(From the Thomasville (Ga.) Times.)

“Wm. Flipper, the colored cadet, has graduated at West Point and
been commissioned as a second lieutenant of cavalry in the United States
Army. He is the first colored individual who ever held a commission in
the army, and it remains to be seen how the thing will work. Flipper's
father resides here, and is a first-class boot and shoe maker. A short time
back he stated that he had no idea his son would be allowed to graduate,
but he will be glad to know that he was mistaken. ”

Of course everybody knows my name is not William.

(From the, Thomasville (Ga.) Enterprise.)

“Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper of the United States Army is spending
a few days here with his father's family, he has been on the streets very
little, spending most of his time at home. He wears an undress uniform
and deports himself, so far as we have heard, with perfect propriety.
This we believe he has done since his graduation, with the exception of
his unnecessary and uncalled-for criticisms on the Southern people in his
Atlanta speech. He made a mistake there; one which his sense and
education ought to teach him not to repeat. Not that it would affect our
people, or that they care about it, but for his own good.”*

* In all the places I visited after graduation I was treated with the utmost respect and courtesy except in Atlanta. The white people, with one exception, didn't notice me at all. All foreigners treated me with all due consideration. One young man, whom I knew many years, who has sold me many an article, and awaited my convenience for his pay, and who met me in New York, and walked and talked with me, hung his head and turned away from me, just as I was about to address him on a street in Atlanta. Again and again have I passed and repassed acquaintances on the streets
without any sign of recognition, even when I have addressed them. Whenever I have entered any of their stores for any purpose, they have almost invariably “gotten off” some stuff about attempts on the part of the authorities at West Point to “freeze me out,” or about better treatment from Southern boys than from those of the North. That is how
they treated me in Atlanta, although I had lived there over fourteen years, and was known by nearly every one in the city. In Thomasville, Southwest, Ga., where I was born, and which I had not seen for eighteen years, I was received and treated by the whites almost as one of themselves.

That “undress uniform” was a “cit” suit of blue
Cheviot. The people there, like those in Atlanta, don't
seem to know a black button from a brass one, or a
civilian suit from a military uniform.

Lieutenant H. O. Flipper, the colored graduate of West Point, was
entertained in style at Tully's, King Street, Tuesday night. The hosts
were a colored organization called tile Amateur Literary and Fraternal
Association, which determined that the lieutenant who will leave this
city to-day to join his regiment, the Tenth Cavalry, now in Texas,
should not do so without some evidence of their appreciation of him
personally, and of the fact that he had reflected credit on their race by
passing through the National Academy. Over forty persons were at the
entertainment, to whom the lieutenant was presented by A. J. Ransier,
the colored ex-member of Congress. The lieutenant responded briefly, as
he has invariably done, and expressed his warm thanks for the courtesy
shown by the association. A number of sentiments were offered and
speeches made, and the evening passed off very agreeably to all,
especially so to the recipient of the hospitality.

“Lieutenant Flipper expects to start to-day for Texas. While he has
been in this city he has made friends with whites and blacks by he
sensible course he has pursued.”

“The Amateur Literary and Fraternal Association, of which
A. J. Ransier is the President, learning that Lieutenant Flipper, of the
United States Cavalry, was preparing to depart to the position assigned
him on duty on the plains in Texas, at once determined to give him a
reception, and for this purpose the following committee was appointed
to arrange the details and programme for an entertainment: J. N. Gregg,
W. H. Birny, A. J. Ransier, C. C. Leslie, and George A. Gibson.

“The arrangements were made, and the members of the association
and invited guests to the number of some forty, of the most respectable
colored people of Charleston, met last night at Tully's Hall, King Street,
where a bounteous feast was prepared for the occasion. The guest,
Lieutenant Flipper, soon arrived, and was introduced to the party, and,
in the course of time, all sat down at the table, upon which was spread
the most palatable dishes which the king caterer of Charleston could
prepare. This was vigorously attacked by all.

“Wines were then brought on, and speech-making introduced as a
set off. A. J. Ransier, in one of his usual pleasant speeches, introduced
Lieutenant Flipper, paying him a deserved tribute for his success in the
attainment of the first commission issued to a colored graduate of West
Point.

“Lieutenant Flipper, in a brief and courteous speech, acknowledged
the compliment, and thanked the association for the kind attention paid
him, promising them that in his future career in the army of his country
he would ever strive to maintain a position which would do credit to his
race.

“W. H. Birney next responded in eloquent terms to the toast, ‘The
State of South Carolina.’ J. N. Gregg was called upon, and responded in a
wise and discreet manner to the toast of ‘The Future of the Colored
Man in this Country.’ ‘The Press’ and ‘Woman’ were next respectively
toasted, and responded to by Ransier and F. A. Carmand. Other speeches
were made by C. C. Leslie, J. J. Connor, and others, and at a late hour
the party retired, after a most pleasant evening's enjoyment. Lieutenant
Flipper leaves for Texas to-morrow.”

Before closing my narrative I desire to perform a very pleasant duty. I sincerely believe that all my
success at West Point is due not so much to my
perseverance and general conduct there as to the early
moral and mental training I received at the hands of those
philanthropic men and women who left their pleasant
homes in the North to educate and elevate the black
portion of America's citizens, and that, too, to their own
discomfort and disadvantage. How they have borne the
sneers of the Southern press, the ostracism from society
in the South, the dangers of Kuklux in remote counties, to
raise up a downtrodden race, not for personal
aggrandizement, but for the building up and glory of His
kingdom who is no respecter of persons, is surely worthy
our deepest gratitude, our heartfelt thanks, and our
prayers and blessing. Under the training of a good
Christian old lady, too old for the work, but determined to
give her mite of instruction, I learned to read and to
cipher—this in 1866. From her I was placed under control
of a younger person, a man. From him I passed to the
control of another lady at the famous “Storr's School.” I
remained under her for two years more or less, when I
passed to the control of another lady in what was called a
Normal School. From here I went to the Atlanta
University, and prepared for the college course, which in
due time I took up. This course of training was the
foundation of all my after-success. The discipline, which I
learned to heed, because it was good, has been of
incalculable benefit to me. It has restrained and shaped
my temper on many an occasion when to have yielded to
it would have been ruin. It has regulated my acts when to
have committed them as I contemplated would have been
base unmanliness.
And it has made my conduct in all cases towards others
generous, courteous, and Christian, when it might
otherwise have been mean, base, and degrading. It taught
me to be meek, considerate, and kind, and I have verily
been benefited by it.

The mind-training has been no less useful. Its
thoroughness, its completeness, and its variety made me
more than prepared to enter on the curriculum of studies
prescribed at West Point. A less thorough, complete, or
varied training would never have led to the success I
achieved. I was not prepared expressly for West Point.
This very thoroughness made me competent to enter any
college in the land.

How my heart looks back and swells with gratitude
to these trainers of my youth! My gratitude is deeply felt,
but my ability to express it is poor. May Heaven reward
them with long years of happiness and usefulness here,
and when this life is over, and its battles won, may they
enter the bright portals of heaven, and at His feet and
from His own hands receive crowns of immortal glory.

CHAPTER XVII.

JAMES WEBSTER SMITH, a native of South
Carolina, was appointed to a cadetship at the United
States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in
1870, by the Hon. S. L. Hoge. He reported, as instructed,
at the Military Academy in the early summer of 1870,
and succeeded in passing the physical and intellectual
examination prescribed, and was received as a
“conditional cadet.” At the same time one Howard
reported, but unfortunately did not succeed in “getting
in.”

In complexion Smith was rather light, possibly an
octoroon. Howard, on the contrary, was black. Howard
had been a student at Howard University, as also had
been Smith. Smith, before entering the Academy, had
graduated at the Hartford High School, and was well
prepared to enter upon the new course of studies at West
Point.

In studies he went through the first year's course
without any difficulty, but unfortunately an affaire
d'honneur—a “dipper fight”—caused him to be put
back one year in his studies. In going over this course
again he stood very high in his class, but when it was
finished he began going down gradually until he became a
member of the last section of his class, an “immortal,”
as we say, and in constant danger of being “found.”

He continued his course in this part of his class
till the end of his second class year, when he was
declared deficient in natural and experimental philosophy,
and dismissed. At this time he had been in the Academy
four years, but had been over only a three-years' course,
and would not have graduated until the end of the next
year, June, 1875.

As to his trials and experiences while a cadet, I shall
permit him to speak. The following articles embrace a
series of letters written by him, after his dismissal, to the
New National Era and Citizen, the political organ of the
colored people, published at Washington, D. C.:

THE COLORED CADET AGAIN.
PERTINENT OR IMPERTINENT CARD FROM CADET SMITH.
“COLUMBIA, S. C., July 27,1874.To the Editor of the National Republican:

“SIR: I saw an article yesterday in one of our local papers, copied
from the Brooklyn Argus, concerning my dismissal from the Military
Academy. The article referred to closes as follows: ‘Though he has
written letters to his friends, and is quite sanguine about returning and
finally graduating, the professors and cadets say there is not the slightest
chance. Said a professor to a friend, the other day: “It will be a long
time before any one belonging to the colored race can graduate at West
Point.”’

“Now, Sir, I would like to ask a few questions through the columns of
your paper concerning these statements, and would be glad to have them
answered by some of the knowing ones.

“In the first place, what do the professors and cadets know of my
chances for getting back, and if they know any thing, how did they find
it out? At an interview which I had with the Secretary of War, on the
17th instant, he stated that he went to West Point this year for a
purpose, and that he was there both before and after my examination,
and conversed with some of the professors concerning me. Now, did that
visit and those conversations have any thing to do with
the finding of the Academic Board? Did they have any thing to do with
that wonderful wisdom and foresight displayed by the professors and
cadets in commenting upon my chances for getting back? Why should
the Secretary of War go to West Point this year ‘for a purpose,’ and
converse with the professors about me both before and after the
examination? Besides, he spoke of an interview he had had with Colonel
Ruger, Superintendent of the Academy, in New York, on Sunday, the
12th instant, in reference to me; during which Colonel Ruger had said
that the Academic Board would not recommend me to return. Is it very
wonderful that the Academic Board should refuse such recommendation
after those very interesting conversations which were held ‘both before
and after the recommendation?’ Why was the secretary away from
West Point at the time of the examination.

“In the next place, by what divine power does that learned oracle, a
professor, prophesy that it will be a long time before any one belonging
to the colored race can graduate at West Point? It seems that he must
have a wonderful knowledge of the negro that he can tell the abilities of
all the colored boys in America. But it is possible that he is one of the
younger professors, perhaps the professor of philosophy, and therefore
expects to live and preside over that department for a long time, though
to the unsophisticated mind it looks very much as though he would
examine a colored cadet on the color of his face.

“I think he could express himself better and come much nearer the
truth by substituting shall for can in that sentence. Of course, while
affairs remain at West Point as they have always been, and are now, no
colored boy will graduate there; but there are some of us who are
sanguine about seeing a change, even if we can't get back.

As I told you in my last communication, I shall now proceed to
give you an account of my four years' stay at West Point.

“I reported there on the 31st of May, 1870, and had not been
there an hour before I had been reminded by several thoughtful cadets
that I was ‘nothing but a d—d nigger.’ Another colored boy, Howard, of
Mississippi, reported on the same day, and we were put in the same
room, where we stayed until the preliminary examination was over, and
Howard was sent away, as he failed to pass.

“While we were there we could not meet a cadet anywhere without
having the most opprobrious epithets applied to us; but after
complaining two or three times, we concluded to pay no attention to
such things, for, as we did not know these cadets, we could get no
satisfaction.

“One night about twelve o'clock some one came into our room, and
threw the contents of his slop-pail over us while we were asleep. We got
to our door just in time to hear the ‘gentleman’ go into his room on the
floor above us. This affair reported itself the next morning at ‘Police
Inspection,’ and the inspector ordered us to search among the tobacco
quids, and other rubbish on the floor, for something by which we might
identify the perpetrator of the affair. The search resulted in the finding
of an old envelope, addressed to one McCord, of Kentucky. That young
‘gentleman’ was questioned in reference, but succeeded in convincing the
authorities that he had nothing to do with the affair and knew nothing
of it.

“A few days after that, Howard was struck in the face by that young
‘gentleman,’ ‘because,’ as he says, ‘the d—d nigger didn't get out of the
way when I was going into the boot-black's shop.’ For that offence Mr.
McCord was confined to his room, but was never punished, as in a few
days thereafter he failed at the preliminary examination, and was sent
away with all the other unfortunates, including Howard.

“On the 28th of June, 1870, those of us who had succeeded in
passing the preliminary examination were taken in ‘plebe camp,’ and
there I got my taste of ‘military discipline,’ as the petty persecutions of
about two hundred cadets were called. Left alone as I was, by Howard's
failure, I had to take every insult that was offered, without saying any
thing, for I had complained several times to the Commandant of Cadets,
and, after ‘investigating the matter,’ he invariably came to the
conclusion, ‘from the evidence deduced,’ that I was in the wrong, and I
was cautioned that I had better be very particular about any statements
that I might make, as the regulations were very strict on the subject of
veracity.

“Whenever the ‘plebes’ (new cadets) were turned out to ‘police’
camp, as they were each day at 5 A.M. and 4 P.M., certain cadets would
come into the company street and spit out quids of tobacco which they
would call for me to pick up. I would get a broom and
shovel for the purpose, but they would immediately begin swearing at and
abusing me for not using my fingers, and then the corporal of police
would order me to put down that broom and shovel, ‘and not to try to
play the gentleman here,’for my fingers were‘made for that purpose.’
Finding there was no redress to be had there, I wrote my friend Mr. David
Clark, of Hartford, Ct., to do something for me. He had my letter
published, and that drew the attention of Congress to the matter, and a
board was sent to West Point to inquire into the matter and report
thereon. That board found out that several cadets were guilty of conduct
unbecoming a cadet and a gentleman and recommended that they be
court-martialled, but the Secretary of War thought a reprimand would be
sufficient. Among those reprimanded were Q. O'M. Gillmore, son of
General Gillmore; Alex. B. Dyer, son of General Dyer; and James H.
Reid, nephew of the Secretary of War (it is said). I was also reprimanded
for writing letters for publication.

“Instead of doing good, these reprimands seemed only to increase the
enmity of the cadets, and they redoubled their energies to get me into
difficulty, and they went on from bad to worse, until from words they
came to blows, and then occurred that ‘little onpleasantness’ known as
the ‘dipper fight.’ On the 13th of August, 1870, I, being on guard, was
sent to the tank for a pail of water. I had to go a distance of about one
hundred and fifty yards, fill the pail by drawing water from the faucet in a
dipper (the faucet was too low to permit the pail to stand under it), and
return to the guard tent in ten minutes. When I reached the tank, one of
my classmates, J. W. Wilson, was standing in front of the faucet drinking
water from a dipper. He didn't seem inclined to move, so I asked him to
stand aside as I wanted to get water for the guard. He said: ‘I'd like to see
any d—d nigger get water before I get through.’ I said: ‘I'm on duty, and
I've got no time to fool with you,’ and I pushed the pail toward the
faucet. He kicked the pail over, and I set it up and stooped down to draw
the water, and then he struck at me with his dipper, but hit the brass
plate on the front of my hat and broke his dipper. I was stooping
down at the time, but I stood up and struck him in the face with my
left fist; but in getting up I did not think of a tent fly that was
spread over the tank, and that pulled my hat down over my eyes.
He then struck me in the face with the handle of his dipper (he broke
his dipper at the first blow), and then I struck him two or three times
with my dipper, battering it, and cutting him very severely on the
left side of ‘his head near the temple. He bled very profusely, and fell on
the ground near the tank.

“The alarm soon spread through the camp, and all the cadets came
running to the tank and swearing vengeance on the ‘d—d nigger.’

“An officer who was in his tent near by came out and ordered me to
be put under guard in one of the guard tents, where I was kept until next
morning, when I was put ‘in arrest.’ Wilson was taken to the hospital,
where he stayed two or three weeks, and as soon as he returned to duty
he was also placed in arrest. This was made the subject for a court-martial,
and that court-martial will form the subject of my next
communication.

Yours respectfully,“J. W. SMITH,“Late Cadet U. S. M. A.”
THE INJUSTICE AT WEST POINT.
“COLUMBIA, S. C., August 7, 1874.To the Editor of the New National Era:

“SIR: In my last communication I related the circumstances of the
‘dipper fight,’ and now we come to the court-martial which resulted
therefrom.

“But there was another charge upon which I was tried at the same
time, the circumstances of which I will detail.

“On the 15th of August, 1870, just two days after the ‘dipper fight,’
Cadet Corporal Beacom made a report against me for ‘replying in a
disrespectful manner to a file-closer when spoken to at drill,
P.M. For this alleged offence I wrote an explanation denying the
charge; but Cadet Beacom found three cadets who swore that they heard
me make a disrespectful reply in ranks when Cadet Beacom, as a file-closer
on duty, spoke to me, and the Commandant of Cadets, Lieutenant
Colonel Upton, preferred charges against me for making false
statements.

“The court to try me sat in September, with General O. O. Howard
as President. I plead ‘not guilty’ to the charge of assault on Cadet
Wilson, and also to the charge of making false statements.

“The court found both Cadet Wilson and myself ‘guilty’ of assault,
and sentenced us to be confined for two or three weeks, with some other
light punishment in the form of ‘extra duty.’

The finding of the court was approved by President Grant in the
case of Cadet Wilson, but disapproved in my case, on the ground that
the punishment was not severe enough. Therefore, Cadet W. served his
punishment and I did not serve mine, as there was no authority vested in
the President to increase it.

“On the second charge I was acquitted, for I proved, by means of the
order book of the Academy that there was no company drill on that day—the 15th of August—that there was skirmish drill, and by the-guard
reports of the same date, that Cadet Beacom and two of his three
witnesses were on guard that day, and could not have been at drill, even if
there had been one. To some it might appear that the slight
inconsistencies existing between the sworn testimony of those cadets and
the official record of the Academy, savored somewhat of perjury, but
they succeeded in explaining the matter by saying that ‘Cadet Beacom
only made a mistake in date.’ Of course he did; how could it be
otherwise? It was necessary to explain it in some way so that I might be
proved a liar to the corps of cadets, even if they failed to accomplish
that object to the satisfaction of the court.

“I was released in November, after the proceedings and findings of
the court had been returned from Washington, where they had been sent
for the approval of the President, having been in arrest for three
months. But I was not destined to enjoy my liberty for any length of
time, for on the 13th of December, same year, I was in the ranks of the
guard, and was stepped on two or three times by Cadet Anderson, one of
my classmates, who was marching beside me.

“As I had had some trouble with the same cadet some time before,
on account of the same thing I believed that he was doing it
intentionally, and as it was very annoying, I spoke to him about it,
saying: “I wish you would not tread on my toes.’ He answered: ‘Keep your d—d toes out of the way.’ Cadet Birney, who was standing near by, then made some invidious remarks about me, to which I did not condescend to
reply. One of the Cadet Corporals, Bailey, reported me for ‘inattention
in ranks,’ and in my written explanation of the offence, I detailed the
circumstances, but both Birney and Anderson denied them, and the
Commandant of Cadets took their statement in preference to mine, and
preferred charges against me for falsehood.

“I was court martialled in January, 1871, Captain Piper, Third
Artillery, being President of the court. By this court I was found I ‘guilty,’
as I had no witnesses, and had nothing to expect from the testimony of
the witnesses for the prosecution. Cadet Corporal Bailey, who made the
report, Cadets Birney and Anderson were the
witnesses who convicted me; in fact they were the only witnesses
summoned to testify in the case. The sentence of the court was that I
should be dismissed, but it was changed to one year's suspension, or, since
the year was almost gone before the finding of the court was returned
from Washington, where it was sent for the approval of President Grant,
I was put back one year.

“I had no counsel at this trial, as I knew it would be useless,
considering the one-sided condition of affairs. I was allowed to make the
following written statement of the affair to be placed among the records
of the proceedings of the court:

“‘May it please the court: I stand here to-day charged with a most
disgraceful act—one which not only affects my character, but will, if I am
found guilty, affect it during my whole life—and I shall attempt, in as few
words as possible, to show that I am as innocent as any person in this
room. I was reported on the 18th of December, 1870, for a very trivial
offence. For this offence I submitted an explanation to the Commandant
of Cadets. In explanation I stated the real cause of committing the
offence for which I was reported. But this cause, as stated, involved
another cadet, who, finding himself charged with an act for which he was
liable to punishment, denies all knowledge of it. He tries to establish his
denial by giving evidence which I shall attempt to prove absurd. On the
morning of the 13th of December, 1870, at guard-mounting, after the
new guard had marched past the old guard, and the command of “Twos
left, halt!” had been given, the new guard was about two or three yards
to the front and right of the old guard. Then the command of “Left
backward, dress,” was given to the new guard, “Order arms, in place rest.”
I then turned around to Cadet Anderson, and said to him, “I wish you
would not tread on my toes.” This was said in a moderate tone, quite loud
enough for him to hear. He replied, as I understood, “ Keep your d-d
toes out of the way.” I said nothing more, and he said nothing more. I
then heard Cadet Birney say to another cadet—I don't know who it was—
standing by his side, “It (or the thing) is speaking to Mr. Anderson. If he
were to speak to me I would knock him down.” I heard him distinctly,
but as I knew that he was interfering in an affair that did not concern
him, I took no further notice of him, but turned around to my original
position in the ranks. What was said subsequently I do not know, for I
paid no further attention to either party. I heard nothing said at any
time about taking my eyes away, or of Cadet Anderson compromising
his dignity. Having thus reviewed the circumstances which gave rise to
the charge, may it please the court, I wish to say a word as to the witnesses.
Each of these cadets testifies to the fact that they have discussed
the case in every particular, both with each other and with other cadets.
That is, they have found out each other's views and feelings in respect to
it, compared the evidence which each should give, the probable result of
the trial; and one has even testified that he has expressed a desire as to
the result. Think you that Cadet Birney, with such a desire in his breast,
influencing his every thought and word, with such an end in view, could
give evidence unbiassed, unprejudiced, and free from that desire that
“Cadet Smith might be sent away and proved a liar?” Think you that he
could give evidence which should be “the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth, so help me God?” It seems impossible for me to
have justice done me by the evidence of such witnesses, but I will leave
that for the court to decide. There is another question here which must
be answered by the finding of the court. It is this: “Shall Cadet Smith be
allowed to complain to the Commandant of Cadets when he considers
himself unjustly dealt with?” When the court takes notice of the fact
that this charge and these specifications are the result of a complaint
made by me, it will agree with me as to the importance its findings will
have in answering that question. As to what the finding will be, I can say
nothing; but if the court is convinced that I have lied, then I shall
expect a finding and sentence in accordance with such conviction. A lie
is as disgraceful to one man as another, be he white or black, and I say
here, as I said to the Commandant of Cadets, “If I were guilty of
falsehood, I should merit and expect the same punishment as any other
cadet;” but, as I said before, I am as innocent of this charge as any
person in this room. The verdict of an infallible judge—conscience—
is, “Not guilty,” and that is the finding I ask of this court.

“Respectfully submitted.(Signed) “‘J. W. SMITH,“‘Cadet U. S. M. A.’“‘Thus ended my second and last court-martial.“Yours respectfully,“J. W. SMITH,“Late Cadet U. S. M. A.”
THE HONOR OF A CADET AND GENTLEMAN.
To the Editor of the New National Era:

“SIR: In relating the events of my first year at West Point, I omitted
one little affair which took place, and I will now relate the
circumstances. One Sunday, at dinner, I helped myself to some soup, and
one cadet, Clark, of Kentucky, who sat opposite me at table, asked me
what I meant by taking soup before he had done so. I told him that I
took it because I wished it, and that there was a plenty left. He seemed to
be insulted at that, and asked: ‘Do you think I would eat after a d—d
Nigger?’ I replied: ‘I have not thought at all on the subject, and,
moreover, I don't quite understand you, as I can't find that last word in
the dictionary.’ He then took up a glass and said he would knock my
head off. I told him to throw as soon as he pleased, and as soon as he got
through I would throw mine. The commandant of the table here
interfered and ordered us to stop creating a disturbance at the table, and
gave me to understand that thereafter I should not touch any thing on
that table until the white cadets were served.

“When we came back from dinner, as I was going into my room,
Cadet Clark struck at me from behind. He hit me on the back of my
neck, causing me to get into my room with a little more haste than I
anticipated, but he did not knock me down. He came into my room,
following up his advantage, and attempted to take me by the throat, but
he only succeeded in scratching me a little with his nails, as I defended
myself as well as possible until I succeeded in getting near my bayonet,
which I snatched from the scabbard and then tried to put it through him.
But being much larger and stronger than I, he kept me off until he got to
the door, but then he couldn't get out, for some one was holding the door
on the outside, for the purpose, I suppose, of preventing my escape, as
no doubt they thought I would try to get out. There were a great many
cadets outside on the stoop, looking through the window, and cheering
their champion, with cries of ‘That's right, Clark; kill the d—d nigger,’
‘Choke him,’ ‘Put a head on him,’ etc., but when they saw him giving way
before the bayonet, they cried, ‘Open the door, boys,’ and the door was
opened, and Mr. Clark went forth to rejoice in the bosom of his friends
as the hero of the day. The cadet officer of the day ‘happened around’
just after Clark had left, and wanted to know what did I mean by making
all that noise in and around my quarters. I told
him what the trouble was about, and soon after I was sent for by the
‘officer in charge,’ and questioned in reference to the affair. Charges were
preferred against Clark for entering my room and assaulting me, but
before they were brought to trial he sent two of his friends tome asking
if I would withdraw the charges providing he made a written apology. I
told these cadets that I would think of the matter and give them a
definite answer the next evening.

“I was perfectly well satisfied that he would be convicted by any
court that tried him; but the cadets could easily prove (according to
their way of giving evidence) that I provoked the assault, and I, besides,
was utterly disgusted with so much wrangling, so when the cadets called
that evening I told them that if his written apology was satisfactory I
would sign it, submit it to the approval of the Commandant of Cadets,
and have the charges withdrawn.

“They then showed me the written apology offered by Clark, in which
he stated that his offence was caused by passion, because he thought
that when I passed him on the steps in going to my room I tried to brush
against him. He also expressed his regret for what he had done, and asked
forgiveness. I was satisfied with his apology, and signed it, asking that
the charges be withdrawn, which was done, of course, and Clark was
released from arrest. I will, in justice to Cadet Clark, state that I never
had any further trouble with him, for, while he kept aloof from me, as
the other cadets did, he alway thereafter acted perfectly fair by me
whenever I had any official relations with him.

“A few days after the settlement of our dispute I found, on my
return from fencing one day, that some one had entered my room and
had thrown all my clothes and other property around the floor, and had
thrown the water out of my water-pail upon my bed. I immediately went
to the guard-house and reported the affair to the officer of the day, who,
with the ‘officer in charge,’ came to my room to see what had been done.
The officer of the day said that he had inspected my quarters soon after I
went to the Fencing Academy and found everything in order, and that it
must have been done within a half hour. The Commandant of the Cadets
made an investigation of the matter, but could not find out what young
‘gentleman’ did it, for every cadet stated that he knew nothing of it,
although the corps of cadets has the reputation of being a truthful set of
young men.

“‘Upon my honor as a cadet and a gentleman,’” is a favorite
expression with the West Point cadet; but what kind of honor is that by
which a young man can quiet his conscience while telling a base falsehood
for the purpose of shielding a fellow-student from punishmen for a
disgraceful act? They boast of the esprit de corps existing among the
cadets; but it is merely a cloak for the purpose of covering up their
iniquities and silencing those (for there are some) who would, if allowed
to act according to the dictates of their own consciences, be above such
disgraceful acts. Some persons might attribute to me the same motives
that actuated the fox in crying ‘sour grapes,’ and to such I will say that I
never asked for social equality at West Point. I never visited the quarters
of any professor, official, or cadet except on duty, for I did not wish any
one to think that I was in any way desirous of social recognition by those
who felt themselves superior to me on account of color. As I was never
recognized as ‘a cadet and a gentleman,’ I could not enjoy that blessed
privilege of swearing ‘upon my honor,’ boasting of my share in the esprit
de corps, nor of concealing my sins by taking advantage of them. Still, I
hope that what I lost (?) by being deprived of these little benefits will be
compensated for the ‘still small voice,’ which tells me that I have done
my best.

“SIR: My communications, thus far, have brought me to the end of
my first year at the Academy, and now we come to the events of the
second. In June of 1871, the proverbial silver lining, which the darkest
cloud is said to have, began to shine very faintly in the West Point
firmament, and I thought that at last the darkness of my cadet life was to
be dispelled by the appearance above the horizon of another colored
cadet. And, indeed, I was not disappointed, for, one day, I was greeted
by the familiar face and voice of Mr. H. A. Napier, a former fellow-student
at Howard University. Soon after his arrival, and admittance, the
corps of ‘cadets, accompanied by the ‘plebes,’ took up quarters in camp—
‘plebe camp’ to the latter, and ‘yearling camp’ to us who had entered the
previous year.

“During the cadet encampment there are certain dances given three
times each week, known as ‘Cadet Hops.’ These ‘hops’
are attended by the members of the first and third classes, and their lady
friends, and no ‘plebe’ ever has the assurance of dreaming of
attending the ‘hops’ until he shall have risen to the dignity of a
‘yearling’—third-classman. So long as I was a ‘plebe,’ no one anticipated
any such dire calamity as that I would attend the ‘hops,’ but as soon as I
became a ‘yearling,’ and had a perfect right to go, if I wished, there was a
great hue and cry raised that the sanctity of the ‘hop’ room was to be
violated by the colored cadet.

“Meetings were held by the different classes, and resolutions passed
to the effect that as soon as the colored cadet entered the ‘hop’ room,
the ‘hop’ managers were to declare the ‘hop’ ended, and dismiss the
musicians. But the ‘hops’ went on undisturbed by the presence of the
colored cadet for two or three weeks, and all began to get quiet again,
when one day my brother and sister, with a couple of lady friends whom
they had come to visit, came to camp to see me.

“This started afresh the old report about the ‘hops,’ and every one
was on the qui vive to get a glimpse of ‘nigger Jim and the nigger wenches
who are going to the hops,’ as was remarked by a cadet who went up from
the guard tent to spread the alarm through camp.

“In a few minutes thereafter the ‘gentlemen’ had all taken position
at the end of the ‘company street,’ and, with their opera-glasses, were
taking observations upon those who, as they thought, had come to
desecrate the ‘hop’ room. I was on guard that day, but not being on post
at that time, I was sitting in rear of the guard tents with my friends—that
place being provided with camp-stools for the accommodation of visitors—
when a cadet corporal, Tyler, of Kentucky, came and ordered me to go
and fasten down the corner of the first guard tent, which stood a few
paces from where we were sitting.

“I went to do so, when he came there also, and immediately began to
rail at me for being so slow, saying he wished me to know that when he
ordered me to do anything, I must ‘step out’ about it, and not try to shirk
it. I said nothing, but fastened down the corner of the tent, and went
back to where my friends were.

“In a few minutes afterwards he came back, and wanted to know why
I hadn't fastened down that tent wall. I told him that I had.

“He said it was not fastened then, and that he did not wish any
prevarication on my part.

“I then told him that he had no authority to charge me with
prevarication, and that if he believed that I had not fastened down the
tent wall, the only thing he could do was to report me. I went back to the
tent-and found that either Cadet Tyler or some other cadet had
unfastened the tent wall, so I fastened it down again. Nothing now
was said to me by Cadet Tyler, and I went back to where my friends were:
but we had been sitting there only about a half hour, when a private
soldier came to us and said, ‘It is near time for parade, and you will have
to go away from here.’ I never was more surprised in my life, and I asked
the soldier what he meant, for I surely thought be was either drunk or
crazy, but he said that the superintendent had given him orders to allow
no colored persons near the visitors' seats during parade.

“I asked him if he recognized me as a cadet. He said he did. I then
told him that those were my friends; that I had invited them there to see
the parade, and that they were going to stay. He said he had nothing to
do with me, of course, but that he had to obey the orders of the
superintendent. I then went to the officer of the guard, who was standing
near by, and stated the circumstances to him, requesting him to protect
us from such insults. He spoke to the soldier, saying that he had best not
try to enforce that order, as the order was intended to apply to
servants, and then the soldier went off and left us.

“Soon after that the drum sounded for parade, and I was compelled
to leave my friends for the purpose of falling in ranks, but promising to
return as soon as the parade was over, little thinking that I should not be
able to redeem that promise; but such was the case, as I shall now
proceed to show.

“Just as the companies were marching off the parade ground, and
before the guard was dismissed, the ‘officer in charge,’ Lieutenant Charles
King, Fifth Cavalry, came to the guard tent and ordered me to step out
of ranks three paces to the front, which I did.

“He then ordered me to take off my accoutrements and place them
with my musket on the gun rack. That being done, he ordered me to take
my place in the centre of the guard as a prisoner, and there I stood until
the ranks were broken, when I was put in the guard tent. Of course my
friends felt very bad about it, as they thought that they were the cause of
it, while I could not speak a word to them, as they went away; and even
if I could have spoken to them, I could not have explained the matter,
for I did not know myself why I had been put there—at least I did not
know what charge had been trumped up against me, though I knew well
enough that I had been put there for the purpose of keeping me from the
‘hop,’ as they expected I would go. The next morning I was put ‘in arrest’
for ‘disobedience of orders in not fastening down tent wall when
ordered,’ and ‘replying in a disrespectful manner to a cadet
corporal,’ etc.; and thus the simplest thing was magnified into a very serious
offence, for the purpose of satisfying the desires of a few narrow-minded
cadets. That an officer of the United States Army would allow his
prejudices to carry him so far as to act in that way to a subordinate,
without giving him a chance to speak a word in his defence—nay, without
allowing him to know what charge had been made against him, and that
he should be upheld in such action by the ‘powers that be,’ are sufficient proof to my mind of the feelings which the officers themselves maintained towards us. While I was in ranks, during parade, and my friends were quietly sitting down looking at the parade, another model ‘officer and gentleman,’ Captain Alexander Piper, Third Artillery—he was president of my second court-martial—came up, in company with a lady, and ordered my brother and sister to get up and let him have their camp-stools, and he actually took away the camp-stools and left them standing, while a different kind of a gentleman—an ‘obscure citizen,’ with no aristocratic West Point dignity to boast of— kindly tendered his camp-stool to my sister.

“I only wish I knew the name of that gentleman; but I could not see
him then, or I should certainly have found it out, though in answer to
my brother's question as to his name, he simply replied, ‘I am an obscure
citizen.’ What a commentary on our ‘obscure citizens,’ who know what it
is to be gentlemen in something else besides the name—gentlemen in
practice, not only in theory—and who can say with Burns that ‘a mans
a man for a' that,’ whether his face be as black as midnight or as white as
the driven snow.

“There is something in such a man which elevates him above many
others who, having nothing else to boast of, can only say, ‘I am a white
man, and am therefore your superior,’ or ‘I am a West Point graduate,
and therefore an officer and a gentleman.’

“After the usual ‘investigation’ by the Commandant of Cadets, I was
sentenced to be confined to the ‘company street’ until the 15th of
August, about five weeks, so that I could not get out to see my brother
and sister after that, except when I was at drill, and then I could not
speak to them. I tried to get permission to see them in the ‘Visitors'
Tent’ the day before they left the ‘Point’ on their return home, but my
permit was not granted, and they left without having the privilege of
saying ‘Good-by.’

“I must say a word in reference to the commandant's method of
making ‘investigations.’ After sending for Cadet Corporal Tyler and
other white cadets, and hearing their side of the story in reference
to the tent wall and the disrespectful reply, he sent for me to hear
what I had to say, and after I had given my version of the affair, he told
me that I must surely be mistaken, as my statement did not coincide with
those of the other cadets, who were unanimous in saying that I used not
only disrespectful, but also profane language while addressing the cadet
corporal. I told him that new Cadet Napier and my brother were both
there and heard the conversation, and they would substantiate my
statement if allowed to testify. He said he was convinced that I was in the
wrong, and he did not send for either of them. What sort of justice is that
which can be meted out to one without allowing him to defend himself,
and even denying him the privilege of calling his evidence? What a
model Chief Justice the Commandant of Cadets would make, since he can
decide upon the merits of the case as soon as he has heard one side.
Surely he has missed his calling by entering the army, or else the
American people cannot appreciate true ability, for that ‘officer and
gentleman’ ought now to be wearing the judicial robe so lately laid down
by the lamented Chase.

“In reply to my complaint about the actions of the soldier in ordering
my friends away from the visitors' seats, he said that the soldier had
misunderstood his orders, as the superintendent had told him to keep the
colored servants on the ‘Point’ from coming in front of the battalion at
parade, and that it was not meant to apply to my friends, who could
come there whenever they wished.

“It seems, though, very strange to me that the soldier could
misunderstand his orders, when he saw me sitting there in company
with them, for it is one of the regulations of the Academy which forbids
any cadet to associate with a servant, and if I had been seen doing such a
thing I would have been court-martialled for ‘conduct unbecoming a cadet
and a gentleman.”

“The cadets were, of course, very much rejoiced at my being ‘in
arrest,’ and after my sentence had been published at parade, they had
quite a jubilee over it, and boasted of ‘the skill and tact which Cadet
Tyler had shown in putting the nigger out of the temptation of taking
those black wenches to the hops.’ They thought, no doubt, that their
getting me into trouble frightened me out of any thoughts I might have
had of attending the ‘hops;’ but if I had any idea of going to the ‘hops,’ I
should have been only more determined to go, and should have done so
as soon as my term of confinement was ended. I have never thought of
going to the ‘hops,’ for it would be very little pleasure to go by myself,
and I should most assuredly not have asked
a lady to subject herself to the insults consequent upon going there.
Besides, as I said before, I did not go to West Point for the purpose of
advocating social equality, for there are many cadets in the corps with
whom I think it no honor f or any one to associate, although they are
among the high-toned aristocrats, and will, no doubt, soon be numbered
among the ‘officers and gentlemen’ of the United States Army.

“SIR: The following article appeared in the Washington Chronicle of
the 14th inst., and as I feel somewhat interested in the statements
therein contained, I desire to say a few words in reference to them. The
article referred to reads as follows:

“‘The recent attack of the colored, ex-Cadet Smith upon the Board of Visitors at West Point has attracted the attention of the officers of the War Department. They say that the Secretary of War was extremely liberal in his interpretation of the regulations on behalf of Cadet Smith, and that he did for him what had never been done for a white boy in like circumstances. The officers also say that Smith was manifestly incompetent, that he had a
fair examination, and that the Congressional Board of Visitors unanimously testified to his incompetency.’

“Now, sir, I am at a loss to know what are ‘the recent attacks of the
colored ex-Cadet Smith upon the Board of Visitors,’ for I am not aware
that I have said any thing, either directly or indirectly, concerning the
Board of Visitors. My remarks thus far have been confined to the
Academic Board and Secretary of War.

“As the members of the Board of Visitors were simply spectators,
and as they were not present when I was examined, I had no reason to
make any ‘attack’ upon them, and, therefore, as I said before, confined
my remarks (or ‘attacks,’ if that word is more acceptable to the
Chronicle) to those who acted so unjustly toward me.

“As to the extreme liberality of the Secretary of War, in his
interpretation of the regulations on behalf of Cadet Smith, and that he
did for him what he had never ‘done for a white boy in like
circumstances,’ I hardly know what to say; for such absurd cant seems
intended to excite the laughter of all who know the circumstances of the
case. What devoted servants those officers of the War Department
must be, that they can see in their chief so much liberality!

“But in what respect was the Secretary of War so ‘liberal in his
interpretation of the regulations?’

“Was it in dismissing me, and turning back to a lower class two white
cadets who had been unable to complete successfully the first year of the
course with everything in their favor, while I had completed three years
of the same course in spite of all the opposition which the whole corps
of cadets, backed by the ‘powers that be,’ could throw in my way? Or was
it his decision that ‘I can give Mr. Smith a re-examination, but I won't?’
The Chronicle is perfectly correct in saying ‘that he did for him what had
never been done for a white boy in like circumstances,’ for, in the first
place, I don't think there ever was ‘a white boy in like circumstances,’
certainly not while I was at the Academy, and if there ever were a white
boy so placed, we are pretty safe in concluding, from the general
treatment of white boys, that the secretary was not so frank in his
remarks nor so decided in his action.

“‘I want another cadet to represent your district at West Point, and
I have already sent to Mr. Elliott to appoint one,’ means something
more than fair dealing (or, as the Chronicle would imply, partiality)
toward the colored cadet. It means that the gentleman was pleasing
himself in the choice of a cadet from the Third Congressional District of
South Carolina, and that he did not recognize the rights of the people of
that district to choose for themselves. ‘You are out of the service and
will stay out,’ for ‘the Academic Board will not recommend you to come
back under any circumstances,’ shows that it is the Academic Board that
must choose our representative, and not we ourselves, and that our
wishes are only secondary in comparison with those of the service and
the Academic Board. We are no longer free citizens of a sovereign State,
and of the United States, with the right to choose for ourselves those
who shall represent us; but we must be subordinate to the Secretary of
War and the Academic Board, and must make our wishes subservient to
those of the above-named powers, and unless we do that we are
pronounced to be ‘naturally bad’—as remarked the Adjutant of the
Academy, Captain R. H. Hall, to a Sun reporter—and must have done for
us ‘what had never been done for a white boy in like circumstances.’ Now,
sir, let us see what has ‘been done for a white boy in like circumstances.’
In July, 1870, the President was in Hartford, Ct., and in a conversation
with my friend the Hon. David Clark, in reference to
my treatment at West Point, he said: ‘Don't take him away now;
the battle might just as well be fought now as at any other time,’
and gave him to understand that he would see me protected in my
rights; while his son Fred, who was then a cadet, said to the same
gentleman, and in the presence of his father, that ‘the time had not
come to send colored boys to West Point.’ Mr. Clark said if the
time had come for them to be in the United States Senate, it had
surely come for them to be at West Point, and that he would do all
in his power to have me protected. Fred Grant then said: ‘Well,
no d—d nigger will ever graduate from West Point.’ This same
young gentleman, with other members of his class, entered the rooms
of three cadets, members of the fourth class, on the night of January
3, 1871, took those cadets out, and drove them away from the
‘Point,’ with nothing on but the light summer suits that they wore
when they reported there the previous summer. Here was a most
outrageous example of Lynch law, disgraceful alike to the first
class, who were the executors of it, the corps of cadets, who were
the abettors of it, and the authorities of the Academy, who were
afraid to punish the perpetrators because the President's son was
implicated, or, at least, one of the prime movers of the affair. Congress
took the matter in hand, and instructed the Secretary of War to dismiss
all the members of the class who were implicated, but the latter
gentleman ‘was extremely liberal in his interpretation of the regulations,’
and declined to be influenced by the action of Congress, and
let the matter drop.

“Again, when a Court of Inquiry, appointed by Congress to
investigate complaints that I had made of my treatment, reported in
favor of a trial by court-martial of General Gillmore's son, General
Dyer's son, the nephew of the Secretary of War, and some other lesser
lights of America's aristocracy, the secretary decided that a reprimand
was sufficient for the offence; yet ‘he did for me what had never been
done for a white boy in like circumstances.’ Now, sir, by consulting my
Register of the Academy, issued in 1871, I find that three cadets of the
fourth class were declared ‘deficient ’ in mathematics—Reid, Boyle, and
Walker—and that the first named was turned back to join the next class,
while the other two were dismissed. Now Reid is the Secretary's nephew,
so that is the reason for his doing ‘for him what had never been done for
a white boy in like circumstances.’

“Mr. Editor, I have no objection whatever to any favoritism that
may be shown ‘any member of the Royal. Family, so long as it does
not infringe upon any right of my race or myself ; but when any
paper tries to show that I have received such impartial treatment at the
hands of ‘the powers that be,’ and even go so far, in their zealous
endeavors to shield any one from charges founded upon facts, as to try
to make it appear that I was a favorite, a pet lamb, or any other kind of
a pet, at West Point, I think it my duty to point out any errors that may
accidentally (?) creep into such statements.

“‘The officers also say that Smith was manifestly incompetent, that
he had a fair examination,’ etc. What officers said that? Those of the
War Department, whose attention was attracted by the ‘recent attacks
on the Board of Visitors,’ or those who decided the case at West Point?
In either case, it is not surprising that they should say so, for one party
might feel jealous because ‘the Secretary of War was extremely liberal in
his interpretation of the regulations on behalf of Cadet Smith, and that
he did for him what had never been done for a white boy in like
circumstances,’ while the other party might have been actuated by the
desire to prove that ‘no colored boy can ever graduate at West Point,’
or, as the young gentleman previously referred to said, ‘No d—d nigger
shall ever graduate at West Point.’ As for the unanimous testimony of
the Board of Visitors, I can only say that I know not on what ground
such testimony is based, for, as I said before, the members of that board
were not in the library when I was examined in philosophy; but perhaps,
this is only one of the ‘they says’ of the officers. There are some things
in this case which are not so manifest as my alleged incompetency, and I
would like to bring them to the attention of the Chronicle, and of any
others who may feel interested in the matter. There has always been a
system of re-examinations at the Military Academy for the purpose of
giving a second chance to those cadets who failed at the regular
examination. This year the re-examinations were abolished; but for what
reason? It is true that I had never been re-examined, but does it not
appear that the officers had concluded ‘that Smith was manifestly
incompetent,’ and that this means was taken to deprive me of the benefit
of a re-examination when they decided that I was ‘deficient?’ Or was it
done so that the officers might have grounds for saying that ‘he did for
him what had never been done for a white boy in like circumstances?’
Again, the examinations used to be public; but this year two sentinels
were posted at the door of the library, where the examinations were held,
and when a visitor came he sent in his card by one of the sentinels, while
the other remained at the door, and was admitted or not at the discretion
of the superintendent. It is said that this precaution was taken because
the visitors disturbed the members of the Academic Board by walking
across the floor. Very good excuse, for the floor was covered with a very
thick carpet. We must surely give the Academic Board credit for so much
good judgment and foresight, for it would have been a very sad affair,
indeed, for those gentlemen to have been made so nervous (especially
the Professor of Philosophy) as to be unable to see how ‘manifestly
incompetent’ Cadet Smith was, and it would have deprived the Secretary
of War of the blissful consciousness that ‘he did for him what had never
been done for a white boy in like circumstances,’ besides losing the
privilege of handing down to future generations the record of his
extreme liberality ‘in his interpretation of the regulations on behalf of
Cadet Smith.’

“Oh, that this mighty deed might be inscribed on a lasting leather
medal and adorn the walls of the War Department, that it might act as
an incentive to some future occupant of that lofty station! I advise the
use of leather, because if we used any metal it might convey to our minds
the idea of ‘a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.’

“We publish this morning an account of Cadet Smith's standing at
West Point, which should be taken with a few grains of allowance. The
embryo colored soldier and all his friends—black, white and tan—believe
that the administrationists have used him shamefully, especially in view
of their professions and of the chief source of their political strength.
Grant went into the White House by means of colored votes, and his
shabby treatment of the first member of the dusky army who reached
the point of graduation in the country's military school, is a sore
disappointment to them.

“Cadet Smith has been a thorn in the side of the Administration
from the start. He could not be bullied out or persecuted out of the
institution by the insults or menaces of those who, for consistency's
sake, should have folded him to their bosoms. He stood his ground
bravely, and much against the will of its rulers. West Point was forced to
endure his unwelcome presence up to the time of graduation. At that
point a crisis was reached. If the odious cadet were allowed to graduate,
his commission would entitle him to assignment
in our much-officered army, which contains Colonel Fred Grant and a
host of other favorites whose only service has been of the Captain Jinks
order. The army revolted at the idea. Theoretically they were and are
sound on the nigger, but they respectfully and firmly objected to a
practical illustration. The Radical General Belknap was easily convinced
that the assignment of the unoffending Smith to duty would cause a lack
of discipline in any regiment that would be fearful to contemplate.

“Something must be done, and that something was quickly
accomplished. They saved the army and the dignity of the horse marines
by sacrificing the cadet. To do so, some tangible cause must be alleged,
and a deficiency in ‘philosophy’ was hit upon.

“In vain did Smith appeal to the Secretary of War for an
opportunity to be re-examined; in vain did he ask permission to go back
and join the class below—all appeals were in vain. ‘Gentlemen,’ says the
secretary, ‘I don't wish to be misquoted as saying that I can't give Mr.
Smith a re-examination, for I say I won't do it.’ The victim of the army
has since published a three-column card in Fred Douglass's paper, in
which he says he was dropped for politico-military reasons, and in the
course of which he makes an almost unanswerable case for himself, but
the Radicals have dropped him in his hour of necessity, and he must
submit.”

(From the New York Sun.)
CADET SMITH'S EXPULSION.

“James W. Smith, the first colored cadet appointed to the Military
Academy of West Point, was dismissed after the June examination,
having failed to pass an examination in some other studies. Recently the
Sun received letters from South Carolina charging that the prejudices of
the officers of the Academy led to the dismissal; and to ascertain the
truth a Sun reporter went to West Point to investigate the matter. He
accosted a soldier thus:

“‘Were you here before Smith was dismissed?’

“‘Yes, sir; I've been here many years.’

“‘Can you tell me why he was dismissed?’

“‘Well, I believe he didn't pass in philosophy and some other
studies.’

“‘What kind of a fellow was he?’

“‘The soldiers thought well of him, but the cadets didn't. They used
to laugh and poke fun at him in Riding Hall, and in the artillery
drill all of them refused to join hands with him when the cannoneers
were ordered to mount. This is dangerous once in a while, for sometimes
they mount when the horses are on a fast trot. But he used to run on as
plucky as you please, and always got into his seat without help. Some of
the officers used to try to make them carry out the drill, but it was no
use. I never saw one of the young fellows give him a hand to make a
mount. He was a proud negro, and had good pluck. I never heard him
complain, but his black eyes used to flash when he was insulted, and you
could see easy enough that he was in a killin' humor. But after the first
year he kept his temper pretty well, though he fought hard to do it.’

His temper was hot, and his disposition not honorable. I can assure
you that the officers at this post did every thing in their power to help
him along in his studies, as well as to improve his standing with his
comrades. But his temper interfered with their efforts in the latter
direction, while his dulness precluded his passing through the course of
studies prescribed.

“REPORTER—‘He was always spoken of as a very bright lad.’

“CAPTAIN HALL—‘He was not bright or ready. He lacked
comprehension. In his first year he was very troublesome. First came his
assault upon, or affray with, another young gentleman (Cadet Wilson),
but the Court of Inquiry deemed it inadvisable to court-martial either of
them. Then he was insolent to his superior on drill, and being called upon
for an explanation he wrote a deliberate falsehood. For this he was court-
martialled and sentenced to dismissal, but subsequently the findings of the
committee were reversed, and Cadet Smith was put back one year. This
fact accounts for his good standing on the examination next before the
last. You see he went over the same studies twice.’

“REPORTER—‘What was Cadet Smith found deficient in?’

“CAPTAIN HALL—‘HIS worst failure was in natural and
experimental philosophy, which embraces the higher mathematics,
dynamics, optics, mechanics, and other studies. He missed a very simple
question in optics, and the examiners, who were extremely lenient with
him, chiefly, I believe, because he was colored and not white, tried him
with another, which was also missed.’

“REPORTER—‘Is optical science deemed an absolutely essential
branch of learning for an officer in the army?’

DEFICIENT IN HIS STUDIES.

“CAPTAIN HALL—‘It is useful to engineers, for instance. But that
is not the question. In most educational institutions of the grade of West
Point, the standing of a student in his studies is decided by a general
average of all studies in which he is examined. Here each branch is
considered separately, and if the cadet fails in any one he cannot pass. I
will assure you once more that in my opinion Cadet Smith received as
fair an examination as was ever given to any student. If anything, he was
a little more favored.’

“REPORTER—‘What was his conduct in the last year of his stay at
the Academy?’

“CAPTAIN HALL—‘Good. He ranked twenty in a class of forty in
discipline. Discipline is decided by the number of marks a cadet receives
in the term. If he goes beyond a certain number he is expelled.’

“REPORTER—‘This record seems hardly consistent with his
previous turbulent career.’

“CAPTAIN HALL—‘Oh! in the last years of his service he learned
to control his temper, but he never seemed happy unless in some
trouble.’

“REPORTER—‘Have you any more colored cadets?’

“CAPTAIN HALL—‘Only one—Henry O. Flipper, of Georgia. He is
a well-built lad, a mulatto, and is bright, intelligent, and studious.’

“REPORTER—‘Do the cadets dislike him as much as they did Smith?’

“CAPTAIN HALL—‘No, Sir, I am told that he is more popular. I
have heard of no doubt he will get through all right. And here I will say,
that had Mr. Smith been white he would not have gone so far as he did.’

“Other officers of the post concur with Captain Hall, but the enlisted
men seem to sympathize with Smith. One of them said, ‘I don't believe
the officers will ever let a negro get through. They don't want them in
the army.’

“Cadet Smith's career for the three years of his service was indeed a
most unhappy one, but whether that unhappiness arose from
THE INFIRMITIES OF TEMPER
or from the persistent persecutions of his comrades cannot be
authoritatively said. One officer attributed much of the pugnacity which
Smith exhibited early in his course to the injudicious letters sent him by
his friends. In some of these he was advised to ‘fight
for the honor of his race,’ and others urged him to brook no insult at the
hands of the white cadets. The menial duties which the ‘plebes’ are called
upon to do in their first summer encampment were looked upon by
Smith as personal insults thrust upon him, althought his comrades made
no complaint. Then the social ostracism to a lad of his sensitive nature
was almost unbearable, and an occasional outbreak is not to be
wondered at.

“Before he had been in the Academy a week he wrote to a friend
complaining of the treatment he received from his fellows, and this
letter being published intensified the hostility of the other cadets. Soon
after this he had a fight with Cadet Wilson and cut his face with a dipper.
Then followed the breach of discipline on drill, the court-martial and
sentence, and finally the Congressional investigation, which did not
effect any good. Smith says that frequently on squad drill he was
detached from the squad by the cadet corporal, and told that he was not
to stand side by side with white men.

“WEST POINT, June 19.”
THE COLORED CADET.

HIS TRIALS AND PERSECUTIONS—THREE YEARS OF ABUSE—SETTLED AT LAST—“ELI PERKINS” TELLS THE STORY.

To the Editor of the Daily Graphic:

About the 20th of May, 1870, I saw the colored Cadet, James W.
Smith land at the West Point Dock. He was appointed by a personal
friend of mine, Judge Hoge, Member of Congress from Columbia, South
Carolina. The mulatto boy was about five feet eight inches high, with
olive complexion and freckles. Being hungry he tipped his hat to a cadet
as he jumped from the ferry-boat and asked him the way to the hotel.

“‘Over there, boy,’ replied the cadet, pointing to the Rose Hotel
owned by the government.

“On arriving there the colored boy laid down his carpet-bag,
registered his name, and asked for something to eat.

“‘What! A meal of victuals for a nigger?’ asked the clerk.

“‘Yes, Sir, I'm hungry and I should like to buy something to eat.’

“‘Well, you'll have to be hungry a good while if you wait to get
something to eat here,’ and the clerk of the government hotel pushed
the colored boy's carpet-bag off upon the floor.

“Jimmy Smith's father, who fought with General Sherman, and came
back to become an alderman in Columbia, had told the boy that when he
got to West Point among soldiers he would be treated justly, and you can
imagine how the hungry boy felt when he trudged back over the hot
campus to see Colonel Black and General Schriver, who was then
Superintendent of the Academy.

“The black boy came and stood before the commandant and handed
him his appointment papers and asked him to read them. Colonel Black,
Colonel Boynton, and other officers looked around inquiringly. Then
they got up to take a good look at, the first colored cadet. The colonel,
red in the face, waved the boy away with his hand, and, one by one, the
officers departed, speechless with amazement.

“In a few moments the news spread through the Academy. The
white cadets seemed paralyzed.

“Several cadets threatened to resign, some advocated maiming him
for life, and a Democratic ‘pleb’ from Illinois exclaimed, ‘I'd rather die
than drill with the black devil.’ But wiser counsels prevailed, and the
cadets consented to tolerate Jimmy Smith and not drown or kill him for
four weeks, when it was thought the examiners would ‘bilge’ him.

“On the 16th of June, 1870, I saw Jimmy Smith again at West
Point and wrote out my experiences. He was the victim of great
annoyance.

“At these insults the colored cadet showed a suppressed emotion. He
could not break the ranks to chastise his assaulter. Then if he had fought
with every cadet who called him a ‘—black-hearted nigger,’ he would
have fought with the whole Academy. Not the professors, for they have
been as truly gentlemen as they are good officers. If they had feelings
against the colored cadet they suppressed them. I say now that the
indignities heaped upon Jimmy Smith would have been unbearable to any
white boy of spirit. Hundreds of times a day he was publicly called names
so mean that I dare not write them.

“Once I met Jimmy Smith after drill. He bore the insulting remarks
like a Christian.

“‘I expected it,’ he said; ‘but it was not so at the Hartford High
School. There I had the second honors of my class.’ Then he showed me
a catalogue of the Hartford High School, and there was the name of
James W. Smith as he graduated with the next highest honor.

“On that occasion I asked Jimmy who his father was.

“‘His name is Israel Smith. He used to belong to Sandres Guignard,
of Columbia.’

“‘Then he was a slave?’

“‘Yes, but when Sherman's army freed him he became a Union
soldier.’

“‘And your mother?’

“‘She is Catherine Smith, born free.’ Here Jimmy showed his
mother's photograph. She looked like a mulatto woman, with straight
hair and regular features. She had a serious, Miss-Siddons-looking face.

“‘How did you come to “the Point?”’ I asked.

“‘Well, Mr. David Clark, of Hartford, promised to educate me, and
he got Congressman Hoge to appoint me.’

“‘How came Mr. Clark to become interested in you?’

“‘Well, a very kind white lady—Miss Loomis—came to Columbia to
teach the freedmen. I went to school to her and studied so hard and
learned so fast that she told Mr. Clark about me. My father is able to
support me, but Mr. Clark is a great philanthropist and he has taken a
liking to me and he is going to stand by me.’

“‘What does Mr. Clark say when you write about how the cadets
treat you?’

“‘Let them call “nigger” as much as they please; they will laugh out of the other corner of their mouth before the term is over.

“‘Your only way is to maintain your dignity. Go straight ahead. If any personal insult is offered, resist it, and then inform me; I will then see what I can do. But I think you need have no fear on that score. Have been out to Windham a few days. All well, and send kind regards. Mary sails for Europe Saturday. President Grant is to be here the 2d.
He will be my guest or Governor Jewell's.

“‘Yours, etc.,“‘D. CLARK.’

“‘So Mr. Clark knows the President, does he?’

“‘Why, yes; he knows everybody—all the great men. He's a great
man himself;’ and this poor colored boy stood up, I thought, the
proudest champion David Clark ever had.

“‘Yes, David Clark is a good man,’ I mused, as I saw the grateful
tears standing in the colored cadet's eyes.

“When I got back to the hotel I heard a wishy-washy girl, who came
up year after year with a party to flirt with the cadets say:

“‘O dear! it is hawid to have this colod cadet—perfectly dre'ff ul. I should die to see my George standing next to him.’

“But Miss Schenck, the daughter of General Schenck, our Minister
to the Court of St. James, told Jimmy Smith that she hoped he would
graduate at the head of his class, and when the colored boy told me about
it he said:

“‘Oh, sir, a splendid lady called to see me to-day. I wish I knew her
name. I want to tell David Clark.’

“Every white boy at West Point now agreed to cut the colored boy.
No one was to say a single word to him, or even answer yes or no. At
the same time they would abuse him and swear at him in their own
conversation loud enough for him to hear. It is a lamentable fact that
every white cadet at the Point swears and chews tobacco like the army
in Flanders.

“Again I saw Jimmy Smith on the 9th of July. The officers of
the Academy had been changed. Old General Schriver had given place
to young General Upton. The young general is a man of feeling and a
lover of justice. He sent for the colored boy, and taking his hand he said:

“‘My boy, you say you want to resign, that you can stand this
persecution no longer. You must not do it. You are here an officer of
the army. You have stood a severe examination. You have passed
honorably and you shall not be persecuted into resigning. I am your
friend. Come to me and you shall have justice.’

“Then General Upton addressed the cadets on dress parade. He told
them personal insults against their brother cadet, whose only crime was
color, must cease.

“One day a cadet came to Jimmy and said he would befriend him if
he dared to, ‘but you know I would be ostracized if I should speak to you.’

“‘What was the cadet's name?’ I asked.

“‘Oh, I dare not tell?’ replied the colored boy. 'He would be ruined, too.’

“‘Did your father write to you when you thought of resigning?’

“‘Yes; here is his letter,’ replied the colored boy:

“‘COLUMBIA, S. C., July 3, 1870.

“‘My DEAR SON: I take great pleasure in answering your kind letter
received last night. I pray God that my letter may find you in a better state
of consolation than when you wrote to me. I told you that you would have
trials and difficulties to endure. Do not mind them, for they will go like
chaff before the wind, and your enemies will soon be glad to gain your
friendship. They do the same to all newcomers
in every college. You are elevated to a high position, and you must stand it like a man. Do not let them run you away, for then they will say, the “nigger” won't do. Show your spunk, and let them see that you will fight. That is what you are sent to West Point for. When they find you are determined to stay, they will let you alone. You must not resign on any account, for it is just what the Democrats want. They are betting largely
here that you won't get in. The rebels say if you are admitted, they will devil you so much that you can't stay. Be a man; don't think of leaving, and let me know all about your troubles. The papers say you have not been received. Do write me positively whether you are received or not.

“‘Times are lively here, for everybody is preparing for the Fourth of July. There are five colored companies here, all in uniform, and they are trying to see who shall excel in drill.

“On the 11th of January I visited West Point again. I found all the
cadets still against the colored boy. A system of terrorism reigned
supreme. Every one who did not take sides against the colored boy was
ostracized.

“At drill one morning Cadet Anderson trod on the colored boy's
toes. When Smith expostulated Anderson replied, ‘Keep your—
toes away.’ When Smith told about it Anderson got two other white
cadets to say he never said so. This brought the colored boy in a fix.

“Last July I saw the colored cadet again. He was still ostracized.
No cadet ever spoke to him. He lived a, hermit life, isolated and alone.

“When I asked him how he got on with his studies he said: ‘As well as
I am able, roaming all alone, with no one to help me and no one to clear
up the knotty points. If there is an obscure point in my lesson I must go
to the class with it. I cannot go to a brother cadet.’

“‘If you should ask them to help you what would they say?’

“‘They would call me a— nigger, and tell me to go back to the
plantation.’

“Yesterday, after watching the colored cadet for three years, I saw
him again. He has grown tall and slender. He talks slowly, as if he had
lost the use of language. Indeed many days and weeks he has gone
without saying twenty lines a day in a loud voice, and that in the
recitation-room.

“When they were examining him the other day he spoke slowly, but
his answers were correct. His answers in philosophy were correct. But
they say he answered slowly, and they will find him deficient for that.
Find him deficient for answering slowly when the boy
almost lost the use of language! When he knew four hundred eyes
were on him and two hundred malign arts all praying for his
failure!

“The colored cadet is now in his third year. The great question
at West Point is, Will he pass his examination? No one will know till
the 30th of June. It is my impression that the young officers have
marked him so low that he will be found deficient The young officers
hate him almost as bad as the cadets, and whenever they could
make a bad mark against him they have done it.

“‘Does anyone ever speak to you now?’ I asked.

“‘No. I dare not address a cadet. I do not want to provoke them. I
simply want to graduate. I am satisfied if they do not strike or harm me;
though if I had a kind word now and then I should be happier, and I could
study better,’ Then the colored boy drew a long sigh.

“To-day I met General Howard, who was present at the colored
cadet's court-martial. I asked him to tell me about it.

“‘Well, Mr. Perkins,’ said the General, ‘they tried to make out that the colored boy lied.’

“‘Yes,’ I interrupted, ‘and they all say he did lie at the Point now. How was it?’

“‘It was this way: They accused him of talking on parade, and, while
trying to convict him out of his own mouth, they asked him “If on a
certain day he did not speak to a certain cadet while on drill?” “I did
not speak to this cadet while on drill the day you mention,” answered
Cadet Smith, “for the cadet was not in the parade that day.”’

“This answer startled the prosecutors, and, looking over the diary of
parade days, they were astonished to find Cadet Smith correct.

“‘What then?’ I asked.

“‘Why they accuse him of telling a lie in spirit, though not in form,
for he had talked on a previous day. Just as if he was obliged to say
any thing to assist the prosecutors except to answer their questions.’

“General Howard believes Cadet Smith to be a good, honest boy. I
believe the same.

“ELI PERKINS.”(From the Savannah (Ga.) Morning-News.)

“Lieutenant Flipper seems to have gone back on his Atlanta friends.
He came home from West Point with a good Academy record,
behaved himself with becoming dignity. The officers at the barracks treated him—not socially, but as an officer of the army—with due respect, as did the citizens of Atlanta, who felt that he had won credit by his good conduct and success. But in an evil hour the colored friends (?) of Flipper gave him a reception, and in full uniform he made them a speech. Now
speech-making is a dangerous thing, and this colored warrior
seems to have been made a victim of it. He distorted the official courtesies of the officers at the barracks into social courtesies, and abused the white people of the South because they did not give him and his race social equality. Not only were sensible colored people displeased with his remarks, but many white citizens who went to the meeting
friendly to Flipper left disgusted with his sentiments.”*

* If a man walks on the streets with me, invites me to his quarters, introduces me to his comrades, and other like acts of courtesy, ought I to consider him treating me socially or officially? I went to the garrison in Atlanta to pay my respects to the commanding officer. I expected nothing. I met an officer, who, with four others, had introduced himself
to me on the cars. My official call had been made. He took me around, introduced me to the officers, and showed me all possible attention. I met another officer in the city several days after this. He offered cigars. We walked up and down the streets together. Many times did we hear and comment upon the remarks we overheard: “Is he walking with
that nigger?” and the like. He invited me into a druggist's to take some
soda-water. I went in and got it, although it was never sold there before to a person of color. We rode out to the garrison together, and every attention was shown me by all. Another officer told me that before I came the officers of the garrison assembled to consider whether or
not they should recognize me. The unanimous vote was “yes.” Was all this official? No. It is the white people, the disappointed tyrants of Georgia, who try to distort social courtesies in official ones.
The “many white” people were some half-dozen newspaper reporters, whose articles doubtless were partly written when they came. “Old Si” in his spectacles was prominently conspicuous among them.(From the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News.)
A COLORED ARMY OFFICER.

“Lieutenant Flipper is his name. He is a living result of the policy of Radicalism which has declared from the first its determination that, under any circumstances, the American citizen of African descent shall enjoy all the privileges of his white brethren. Carrying out this determination, and not dismayed at the fate of colored cadet Smith, who figured so largely in West Point annals a few years ago, cadet Flipper was sent to that institution to try his hand. He has graduated, and now holds the commission of Second Lieutenant of
Cavalry in the United States Army, the first of his race who has ever
attained such a position.

“It will be curious to watch young Flipper's career as an officer.
Time was when army officers were a very aristocratic and exclusive set
of gentlemen, whether they still hold to their old ideas, or not, we do
not know. There seems to be enough of the old feeling left, however,
to justify the belief that until some other descendants of African
parents graduate at the institution, Flipper will have a lonely time.
During his cadetship, we learn from no less an authority than the New
York Tribune, ‘the paper founded by Horace Greeley,’ that he was let
severely alone by his fellow-students. According to that paper, one of the cadets said, ‘We have no feeling against him, but we could not associate with him. It may have been prejudice but still we couldn't do it.’ This shows very clearly the animus which will exist in the army against the colored officer. If at West Point, where he had to drill, recite, eat, and perhaps sleep with his white brothers, they couldn't associate with him (notwithstanding the fact that the majority of these whites were Northern men and ardent advocates of Radicalism, with its civil rights and social equality record), how can it be expected that they will overcome their prejudices any more readily after they become officers. The Tribune thinks they will, and that in
time the army will not hesitate to receive young Flipper, and all of his
race who may hereafter graduate at West Point, with open arms; but the
chances are that the Tribune is wrong. Your model Yankee is very
willing to use the negro as a hobby-horse upon which to ride into place
and power, but when it comes to inviting him to his house and embracing
him as a brother he is very apt to be found wanting. The only society
Lieutenant of Cavalry Flipper can ever hope to enjoy is that which will
exist when there are enough of his race in the army to form a corps
d'Afrique, and by that time he will be too old to delight in social
pleasures. Meanwhile he will be doomed to a life of solitude and
self-communings, and be subjected to many such snubs as the venerable
Frederick Douglass has but recently received at the hands of that
champion mourner for the poor African—Rutherford B, Hayes.”

The New York Tribune is right. The army is officered by men, not by West Point cadets, who are only students and boys.

(From the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News.)
CHEERS FOR FLIPPER.

“The miscegenationists and social equality advocates are making a
great deal of noise over the facts, first, that a negro has graduated at
West Point, and holds to-day a commission in the United States Army;
and second, that when he went up to receive his diploma, he was, alone
of all the members of his class, the recipient of a round of applause.
Great things are augured from these two circumstances, especially the
latter.

“It is reasoned that now, that a negro has at last been able to secure a
commission in the military service of the country, the first step towards
the recognition of his race on the basis of social equality is accomplished,
by degrees prejudice will wear away, and, in course of time, black and
white citizens of this republic will mingle freely and without reserve; and
this, it is claimed, is shown by the applause with which the reception into
the army of this African pioneer was greeted. For our part we don't see
that these negro devotees and miscegenationists have any reason to
rejoice. It is just as impossible to establish perfect social equality between
the Anglo-Saxon and African races as it is to make oil and water unite. It
is against nature, and nowhere in the world is the antipathy to such a
mingling shown more than in the North, and by no people so strongly as
by the very men who whine so incessantly and so pretentiously about
‘men and brethren.’ The negro in the South has always found the white
man of the South to be his best and truest friend, and such will always be
the case, notwithstanding that the Southern white will never consent to
social equality with his fellow-citizen of African descent.

“As to the applause which greeted Flipper, that can easily be
accounted for. Nothing is more likely than that at West Point there
should have been gathered together a lot of old-time South-haters, who
were ready to applaud, not so much to flatter Flipper as to show that
they were happy over what they felt to be a still further humiliation of
the South. That is all there is in that.

“We have no objections to such demonstrations of delight. As far as
we are concerned they may be indulged in to the heart's content by those
who so desire. But one piece of information we can give to the young
colored Georgia lieutenant. If he thinks those who applauded him are
going to invite him to their houses he will be greatly disappointed.
And if he does not die of overeating until those
invite him to dine with them, he will live to a good old age. Let him
take the fate of the recognized leader of his race, Fred Douglass, as an
example, and steer clear of his too demonstrative friends. Experience
shows that so long as they can use him, they will be very profuse in their
professions of friendship; but when that is done all is done, and he will
find himself completely cast aside. If Flipper sees these words, let him
mark our prediction.”

“And many false prophets shall arise, and deceive many” (Matt. 24:11). Amen. That is all that article is worth.

(From the Monmouth Inquirer, Freehold, N. J.)
LIEUTENANT FLIPPER.

“When Congress founded West Point, to be a training school for
those who were to be paid as public servants and to wear the public
livery, we do not think that it was intended that the institution should
serve as a hotbed for the fostering of aristocratic prejudices and the
assumption of aristocratic airs. Nor do we think that when Lincoln
declared the negro a freeman, and entitled to a freeman's rights,
either he or the nation designed that the dusky skin of the
enfranchised slave should serve as an excuse for ignominy, torture, and
disgrace. Yet here, this year, in the graduating class from West
Point, steps a young man among his white-skinned fellows, fiftieth in
a class of seventy-six members, whose four years of academic life
have been one long martyrdom; who has stood utterly alone, ignored
and forsaken among his fellows; who has had not one helping hand
from professors or students to aid him in fighting his hard battle, and
whom only his own talents and sturdy pluck have saved from entire
oblivion. Yet in spite of all, he was graduated; he has left twenty-
six white students behind him; he is a second lieutenant in the
regular army, and the story of his struggles and his hard-won victory is
known from Oregon to Florida. All honor to the first of his race who
has stemmed the tide and won the prize.

“We do not think the faculty at West Point have done their duty in
this matter. One word, one example from them, would have stopped the
persecution, and it is to their disgrace that no such word was spoken and
no such example set.”

I have not a world to say against any of the
professors or instructors who were at West Point during the
period of my cadetship. I have every thing to say in their
praise, and many things to be thankful for. I have felt
perfectly free to go to any officer for assistance,
whenever I have wanted it, because their conduct
toward me made me feel that I would not be sent away
without having received whatever help I may have
wanted. All I could say of the professors and officers at
the Academy would be unqualifiedly in their favor.